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Allegations
of Abuse in Institutions |
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Wellington: The brother
of a woman suing Catholic authorities for abuse has given evidence for the
Catholic side of the case. In the High Court at
Wellington yesterday, one of his sister’s lawyers asked if he had been
sexually abused at a Catholic boys home near Nelson or on private holiday
placements. He said that he was not
abused on holidays, but at the home they were sometimes cleaned “a little bit
better” than they needed to be. “Bath time was not a
happy time,” the man said. He said it was tough
being at the home. The man defended
Catholic Social Services’ role in his upbringing. He said it only did good
things for him, and a social worker there had been like a big sister to him. It arranged reunions of
the seven children in their family who were split up when their parents
separated, he said. He also spoke of his
mother’s emotional distance and how he once asked her why she abandoned them.
His sister is suing the
Wellington Roman Catholic Archdiocese, Catholic Social Services, the Sisters
of Mercy (Wellington) Trust Board, and St Josephs Orphanage Trust Board for
$550,000. She and two sisters
were sent to St Josephs Orphanage and went to St Josephs School in Upper Hutt
in the late 1960s. She was then a boarder at St Marys College, Wellington. Her brother said he had
refused to support his sister in the case when she was considering it in
2000. She said she would make money off someone and she would secure the
future for her sons. The woman has denied she said it. Her brother said she
had never said she was hurt or abused, physically or sexually. Part of the woman’s
claim covers a nun’s alleged assault on her that it is claimed tore her
eardrum. Her brother said he had
problems with his ears all his life and had a perforated eardrum. One of his
brothers told him their father had hurt his ears. The nuns had also given him
“a few good smacks” around the ears, he said. His sister has said she
was strapped. The brother said the nuns at his home never had a strap, they
had a piece of wood and would give “a bit of a poke and a bit of a whack”. He was at the home from
age 4 to 12. He did not go to a proper school until he was 10, and he could
still not read and write properly. Another witness told
the court of happy times at St Josephs Orphanage at the same time the woman
taking the claim was there. She saw disciplining
and was sometimes strapped herself, but she never saw any physical abuse. It was a lot of fun and
quite a loving atmosphere, she said. The case enters its
third week on Monday. |
