Allegations
of Abuse in Institutions |
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Men claiming sexual
abuse at the hands of Catholic clergymen at a Brother Rodger Moloney,
71, and Father Raymond Garchow, 59, from the St John of God Order, together
face 32 sex abuse charges against boys at Last month, Bernard
Kevin McGrath, 58, was jailed for five years for repeated abuse of boys while
he was a brother teaching at the school. Justice Madgwick said
differences in the Moloney and Garchow,
who have had prostate and throat cancer respectively, reportedly suffered
severe depression after their arrests in 2003. After discussion with
authorities pursuing the case in But Ken Clearwater, who
has represented many of the alleged victims through the Male Survivors of
Sexual Abuse Trust, said it came as a relief to many of those who say Moloney
and Garchow abused them. "They are all over
the moon. When the [extradition] was first turned down, many of them were
quite depressed and quite shattered. Now they are swinging back into having
hope again." Mr Clearwater said the
alleged victims would struggle with another long delay and wanted to see the
appeal heard as soon as possible. "It has taken four
years to get McGrath to trial. We don't want another four years. I will
certainly be keeping the pressure on [the authorities]." Mr Clearwater said he
had written to Prime Minister Helen Clark, asking her to intervene in order
to get the pair extradited, but had heard nothing back. "The Government
still needs to get involved. They were in charge of the school in a lot of
ways. A lot of the kids were put there by the Department of Social Welfare or
because they were state wards." No timeframe has yet
been set for the appeal. |