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Allegations
of Abuse in Institutions |
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A retired Upper Hutt
teacher says she never saw evidence of physical or psychological abuse in St
Joseph's Orphanage children she taught. One of the former
orphanage girls is suing four Catholic authorities for $550,000, alleging
physical, verbal, psychological and sexual abuse while in Catholic care in
the 1960s and 70s. In the High Court at
Wellington yesterday, Joan Jenkins, who taught at St Joseph's school for most
of the years between 1957 to 1987, said the Sisters of Mercy nuns who taught
at the school were not always easy on the children and expected them to do as
they were told, but she believed the nuns had high hopes for the children. She did not remember
the woman, now 45 and whose name is suppressed, who has taken the case
against Wellington's Roman Catholic Archdiocese, Catholic Social Services,
the Sisters of Mercy (Wellington) Trust Board, and St Joseph's Orphanage
Trust Board. Other witnesses have
supported allegations of excessive discipline but their allegations are
denied. Earlier the court heard
from a former orphanage girl who went to the school about the same time as
the plaintiff. The woman said she was strapped for stuttering because the
nuns saw it as attention-seeking. A retired senior teaching nun, now in her
80s, said she had never seen or heard of it. The woman said she was
sent to the head nun's office most days to get strapped, but the retired
teaching nun, whose name was suppressed, said that was not true. The retired teaching
nun said she did not think she had a reputation with the pupils for having a
terrible temper and being nasty. She agreed she had a strap but said she used
it on very few children. Another nun accused of
injuring the plaintiff's eardrum by repeatedly slapping her across the ear
has denied it happened. The retired teaching
nun agreed with the plaintiff's lawyer, Helen Cull, QC, that she may have
called a child wicked, ungrateful or selfish, but not nasty or evil, useless
or pathetic. The court also heard
that lay people now staff St Joseph's and no nuns teach there. The case resumes next
Monday for its fourth week, which is expected to be its last. |
