|
|
Allegations
of Abuse in Institutions |
|
|
|
|
The St John of God
order has paid about $5.1 million to boys complaining of sexual abuse at
Christchurch's Marylands home in the 1970s. The order's
Australasian Provincial, Brother Peter Burke, travelled from Australia to
give evidence at the trial of former Marylands brother Bernard Kevin McGrath,
58, who has pleaded not guilty to 46 sexual abuse charges and is on trial in
the Christchurch High Court. Brother Burke said more
could be paid. Details of a "pastoral gesture" - a settlement - to
one of the complainants at the trial were still to be finalised, and
negotiations with other men were stopped during the trial. Brother Burke said his role
in making the pastoral gestures had been to listen rather than to challenge
what he was being told by men who were at Marylands as boys in the 1970s. He
said the church had proceeded "openly and transparently". Defence counsel Raoul
Neave asked him: "You believed what you were being told, and made no
secret of the fact?" He replied: "I
came from a very Christian point of view, and also the view that to sit and
listen to stories that I never in my wildest dreams thought I would hear, it
was very hard to have to say it was made up." Brother Burke said
about $5.1 million had been paid out so far, though not all to boys alleging
abuse by McGrath. Mr Neave pointed out
there had been allegations against a significant number of brothers working
at Marylands over the years. Brother Burke said he
was first told of the allegations in a phone call from a reporter from a
Christchurch newspaper in 2002. He set up a system for
people to register as complainants, and then spoke to them, and arranged help
as needed. This could mean
providing medical, dental, or educational help, or paying for eye-glasses, or
it could mean a payment. Payments were mainly
made through lawyers and accountants representing the complainants and he hoped
that trusts were set up to provide for them, rather than simply passing the
money straight on. He took the view that
it was the police's job to investigate the case, and his role to listen to
what was said. Brother Burke
acknowledged there had been publicity about earlier cases, in which $300,000
had been paid to complainants in New Zealand, and $3.5 million in Australia. He acknowledged there
had been one Christchurch case of a man being paid out and later prosecuted
for a false complaint. |
