|
|
Allegations
of Abuse in Institutions |
|
|
|
|
A Christchurch engineer
and former army cadet at Waiouru Military Camp claims he was brutally treated
and sexually abused by an officer there in the 1980s. Carl Gardner, 40,
decided to speak out about the "barbaric" conditions at the army
camp yesterday, after other former cadets this week came forward with
allegations of abuse. Gardner said he had not
made the allegations at the time because he felt no-one would believe a young
cadet accusing a senior officer. He described the
atmosphere at Waiouru as "brutal". Instead of training him to be a
man, the cadetship left him scarred for life. The alleged sexual
assault happened during a trip to Auckland, he said. It was unusual for
cadets to be given leave from the base but the officer
"hand-picked" him and two other cadets and approved their time off.
The officer took them
to Devonport and "plied" the teenagers with alcohol aboard a navy
vessel, Gardner claimed. He then took the youths
to a club which fresh-faced Gardner was shocked to discover was a
transvestite bar. The quartet spent the
night at a house in the north of Auckland. There were only three
beds in the house, so the officer told Gardner to share with him. As the pair
lay in bed, the officer allegedly touched the teen's genitals and asked
Gardner to reciprocate. Shocked and scared, the
cadet froze. "I didn't move. I
just stayed still and hoped it would end. I didn't want to play with
him." On his return to
Waiouru, Gardner was ordered to go to the officer's private room. He offered
to promote the young cadet if he cleaned his room and provided the
"other services"-- of a sexual nature. Gardner said he refused,
and was put on a 14-day punishment schedule called confined to barracks (CB).
The punishment including running for about 7km, cleaning several vehicles,
and repeated bouts of parade punishment known as change parade. The
punishment usually continued until about midnight. Gardner would then spend
up to two hours meticulously ironing his clothing for a 5am inspection. After a fortnight of
CB, Gardner said he "lost the plot" and tried to hitch-hike home to
Christchurch. "I was mentally,
physically and emotionally beaten down and all I could think of was
running," he said. Mere kilometres from
the camp, Gardner was picked up by military police and given another stint of
CB -- this time for 28 days straight. Gardner also witnessed
an incident where another cadet was indecently assaulted with a broom-handle,
breaking his tail-bone. After this week's allegations of abuse, bad memories
returned. "That guy
absolutely ruined my career hopes and my time in the camp was the worst of my
life," he said. The officer could not
be reached last night, although a relative said he had been cleared of formal
charges. The chief of army,
Major-General Jerry Mateparae, yesterday expressed concern at the serious
nature of the allegations made by former cadets of the Regular Force Cadet
School. Mateparae said he
supported an "open and independent investigation". |
