|
|
Allegations
of Abuse in Institutions |
|
|
|
|
One of the men accused
of sexually abusing a woman who was in Catholic care in the 1970s has said
the allegation is "absolute rubbish". The man, whose name was
suppressed, gave evidence in the High Court at Wellington yesterday against
his accuser. The claimant is now 45
and has sued Wellington's Roman Catholic Archdiocese, Catholic Social
Services, the Sisters of Mercy (Wellington) Trust Board, and St Joseph's
Orphanage Trust Board for $550,000. Her mother placed her
and six siblings with Catholic authorities after her parents' marriage ended.
She was at St Joseph's
Orphanage, Upper Hutt, for about five years, spent several months with a
foster family, was a boarder at St Mary's College for three years, and then
went to a foster family for about 2-1/2 years from the age of about 17. She
has already told the court that by 17 she had been verbally, emotionally,
physically, and sexually abused. The sexual abuse came from her grandfather,
a priest, a neighbour of a foster family, and three members of families with
whom she spent holidays, she said. The man she accused, a
former neighbour, said in court yesterday that the allegations were
completely untrue, beyond belief and laughable. She said she was raped
after a drinking game, but he said there was no game, though he did remember
her being drunk on one occasion, and she vomited on the floor at his house.
Her brother took her home and the man cleaned the floor. The rape allegation was
absolute rubbish, he said. The claimant told the
court that the man's wife would sometimes invite her to visit her husband
when he was in bed and the claimant would masturbate him. The man said that never
happened, and it was beyond belief that his wife would suggest such a thing. The claimant's lawyer
asked him about his fraud convictions. After answering a number of questions,
he wanted to know how it was relevant to the claimant's allegations. Justice
Frater had allowed it because his truthfulness was an issue. He had not been told
his convictions would be raised when he agreed to give evidence. He agreed he
had been convicted, but denied committing any offences of dishonesty. He
denied telling lies. The woman who was the
claimant's foster mother during the period of the alleged abuse said
yesterday that the claimant never said she was being abused, or complained
about Catholic Social Services or treatment at the orphanage or the Catholic
schools she attended. The case is continuing.
|
