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Allegations
of Abuse in Institutions |
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A former army cadet who
has filed a $400,000 law suit for abuse suffered at Waiouru disputes the
official claim there was no culture of violence at the camp. "To say there was
no culture of violence is a joke -- that's the way the place was run,"
the former cadet said yesterday. The Christchurch man
says the beatings and sexual abuse, for which he had to be admitted to
hospital, had affected his whole life. The man, who does not
want to be named publicly because of the shame and humiliation he still feels
more than 30 years on, said he was encouraged to file legal action against
the Crown by Justice Morris, the Government-appointed assessor whose inquiry
report into cadet abuse was issued yesterday. "I went into the
army as a happy normal teenager -- I was 14 when I went in -- and came out
the other end the opposite. "It totally
destroyed me and the effects of that have been ongoing for the rest of my
life." He said he had
counselling 10 years ago, and when revelations of the abuse were published
last year it all came to the surface again. "Every time I go
through this stuff it brings it back, I can't sleep and it gives me
nightmares." He said he had been beaten "a couple of dozen"
times in the 18 months. "I was dragged out of bed many times. I still today
can't sleep with the curtains closed because I need to see if people are
coming to get me. They would drag you out into the ablution block and that is
where some of the sexual abuse took place." He felt ashamed for not
doing more to stop what was happening at Waiouru, but was too frightened to
do anything. He knew of five others
also contemplating legal action for what happened to them. Wellington lawyer Roger
Chapman said the man's claim, which was filed last week, was for $350,000 in
general damages and a further $50,000 for exemplary or punitive damages. |
