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Allegations
of Abuse in Institutions |
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Wellington: A former St
Joseph’s Orphanage girl says she felt much safer there than at home, but has
confirmed a disputed allegation that girls were strapped. An older girl who was
assigned to “buddy” Eve Bon in 1971 at the Upper Hutt orphanage is suing the
Sisters of Mercy and three other Catholic organisations for $550,000,
alleging various forms of mistreatment and neglect in their care. In the High Court at
Wellington, the claimant’s name and the names of many nuns and other
witnesses are suppressed. Mrs Bon gave evidence
yesterday for the Sisters of Mercy (Wellington) Trust Board and St Joseph’s
Orphanage Trust Board. The other defendants
are Wellington’s Roman Catholic Archdiocese and Catholic Social Services. Mrs Bon said she remembered
the claimant being sad a lot of the time, and calm and quiet. She did not
remember her being singled out or being in trouble. The orphanage felt safer
than the home that she fled with her mother and siblings in the middle of the
night, Mrs Bon said. She was at the orphanage for about 18 months, aged 7 to
9 years, before she and her sister returned to live with their mother. The
orphanage had clear routines, a good standard of basic care and was like
being in a little army, but with quite a few treats. The nuns were not
“touchy-feely” but girls were praised and encouraged. The claimant has
alleged a particular nun hit her repeatedly around the head with an open
hand, causing a torn ear drum, and also strapped her. The nun has denied the
accusations and said she never saw orphanage girls strapped or used a strap
herself. But Mrs Bon said she did remember the nun using the strap, but not
her open hand. Girls complained about another nun hitting them with a hair
brush and that stopped when the head nun sat-in on hair brushing sessions,
Mrs Bon said. Another nun hit girls with a long ruler. Mrs Bon said other
recollections of the claimant were not in accord with her own memories of the
orphanage. Later, the claimant
went to St Mary’s College, Wellington. Former principal Sister Mary McDonald
said corporal punishment was not acceptable in a Catholic girls school. The
girls were regarded as people of dignity. It was not socially acceptable,
quite apart from being not religiously acceptable, she said. |
