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Allegations
of Abuse in Institutions |
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A nun has denied damaging
the eardrum of a child in her care by slapping the side of her head more than
30 years ago. The assault claim is
one of the allegations a woman, 45, whose name is suppressed, has made
against Sisters of Mercy nuns in the High Court at Wellington. The claimant, who is
suing four Catholic organisations for $550,000, says the sister, whose name
is also suppressed, slapped her after catching her looking at another girl's
schoolbook at St Joseph's Orphanage, Upper Hutt. She said that for years
her ear was sore, sometimes with a discharge, and that she was given no
medical attention till it was fixed surgically after she left school. The nun yesterday
denied slapping her. The claimant, who had
little contact with her parents after their marriage ended, lived at St
Joseph's Orphanage from 1968 to 1973 and spent several months with foster
parents before boarding for three years at St Mary's College, Wellington,
from 1974. She says she was
emotionally, verbally and physically abused by nuns, and that a priest
sexually abused her at St Joseph's, her grandfather sexually abused her when
she visited him, and other men sexually abused her during holidays that
Catholic Social Services arranged. She has sued
Wellington's Roman Catholic Archdiocese, its social agency, Catholic Social
Services, the Sisters of Mercy (Wellington) Trust Board, and St Joseph's
Orphanage Trust Board. After three weeks, the
hearing was adjourned yesterday till September 5 when more nuns are expected
to give evidence. The nun accused of
injuring the claimant's ear said the sisters tried to make the orphanage a
home for the children. She did not remember using corporal punishment, or
shouting at or abusing children. She did not see anyone else beat a child,
she said. She remembered the
claimant being an unhappy child and feeling sorry for her and her two sisters
when their mother failed to take them for a holiday as promised. |
