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Allegations
of Abuse in Institutions |
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Wellington: A former
priest with sex crime convictions has denied sexually abusing a girl at an
Upper Hutt orphanage more than 30 years ago. The woman who made the
allegation against him is suing four Catholic groups for $550,000, claiming
she was abused physically, emotionally, verbally and sexually while in
Catholic care. The former priest,
whose name is suppressed, told the High Court at Wellington yesterday he was
jailed in 1994 on charges of sexual violation relating to a female over the
age of 16. But under cross-examination, he agreed the sentencing judge had
decided the offences had begun when the girl was 13. He agreed he thought he
could get away with the difference relying on an inaccurate Justice Ministry
document he had been given. The woman who brought
the case, whose name is suppressed, has alleged the priest had wanted a
sexual relationship with her mother, and when that did not happen he took his
revenge on the children. Both the man and the
mother, who also gave evidence yesterday, denied having a relationship. The mother said the man
had been barely civil to her and very distant, but he was good to her when
one of her children died. The man said he agreed "to
some degree" that the children’s homes were a dumping system putting
young children in the care of often elderly women who had difficulty caring
for them. He agreed it was never
made clear to parents that the standard of care might be inferior. He said he encouraged
the plaintiff’s mother to take her seven children back, including offering to
provide a house for the family. He agreed that no steps
seemed to have been taken to address "concerning" comments recorded
in the plaintiff’s file about her behaviour. One of the plaintiff’s
sisters said she was "exorcised", but the man said what she
described was not what he understood was an exorcism, and he had not taken
part in what she described. The children’s mother
said she did not try to reunite her children because she felt they had
changed for the better while in care. There was no way she could have the
children when their father was still harassing her, and he was drunk and
violent. She thought the nuns,
some of whom had taught her as a girl, were taking good care of her
daughters. Wellington’s Roman
Catholic Archdiocese, Catholic Social Services, Sisters of Mercy (Wellington)
Trust Board and St Josephs Orphanage Trust Board are defending the claims
factually and legally. The parties dispute the
legal and actual control Catholic Social Services had over the care of
orphanage children. But one witness has
agreed the head of Catholic Social Services had a role that gave him care and
control of the plaintiff and her siblings. |
