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Accusations of Abuse in Institutions

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The Press
June 29, 2002

White-collar crime
by Yvonne Martin

An image of trust hides a tale of abuse. In a special report, The Press continues its scrutiny of the Catholic Church's handling of abuse by its clergy in New Zealand. YVONNE MARTIN this week travelled to Sydney to explore St John of God's troubled history as further tales of abuse emerged. Inside, GEOFF COLLETT examines how the Church is handling the crisis, and the editor of The Weekend Press CATE BRETT offers a personal view.


It was a fleeting image of trust and innocence, but it belied a terrible truth lurking within the corridors of a Catholic boarding school in Halswell.

The photo taken in 1980 captures an Order of St John of God brother talking to a Marylands boarder after a mass to mark the school's 25th anniversary.

It was probably the school's last happy milestone. At that time it was home to 70 Catholic boys from all over New Zealand with intellectual and learning disabilities. The brotherhood pulled out of running Marylands four years later, leaving a hidden legacy of sexual abuse against an unknown number of boys throughout the 1960s and 1970s.

The extent of the abuse among the St John of God and other religious orders is still unfolding, following similar scandals in Australia and the United States. (This week a 53-year-old Christchurch businessman who attended Xavier College in the early 1960s revealed he received a written apology from the Marist Brothers for abuse he suffered there.)

This poignant black-and-white photograph from this paper's archives prompted a search to find the boy and tell his story.

That search led this week to the order's headquarters in Sydney, in an attempt to fathom how as many as 20 brothers could have been implicated in abuse across the region.

The boy in the photo turned out to be a principal victim of a brother who was central to the offending in Christchurch. The man, now 36, wanted the photo to be published. The Press had to apply to the Christchurch District Court to lift the automatic name suppression given to victims of sexual abuse. That was done, with the victim's backing, on Thursday.

Only now can his identity be revealed as Brian Joseph Uttinger, the man who spoke of his schoolboy ordeal at Marylands in last weekend's newspaper as "Joseph".

Brian was 14 when the photo was taken. He was one of two Marylands boys abused by Brother Bernard McGrath, who was later convicted of sex offences against them.

McGrath was jailed in Christchurch for three years in 1993 after admitting 10 charges of indecencies against six boys in his care, then another nine months in Australia in 1997 for abusing a school boy in Sydney.

Brian Uttinger was first sexually abused by McGrath as an eight-year- old when sent to Marylands by his staunchly Catholic father because of his autism. It began with McGrath offering Brian a packet of Sparkles if he followed McGrath to his bedroom, and continued over a period of three years.

Uttinger was later paid nearly $95,000 by the order, one of five complainants who have received a total $300,000 in confidential out-of- court settlements thus far. In Australia, the order has paid another $4 million to 24 intellectually disabled men abused in residential homes in Victoria.

The photograph is significant for other reasons too. The elderly man talking with Brian is Brother William Lebler, one of four brothers accused of abusing boys at Marylands. Patrick, the Christchurch man who spoke out 10 days ago about his $30,000 payout, accuses Brother William of abusing him in the 1960s. Brother William, who has adamantly denied the allegations in the past, is now in his 80s in a brothers' retirement home in New South Wales.

Uttinger's memory of that day was not of Lebler but on avoiding any contact with his abuser, Brother McGrath, the man (with glasses) whose face appears in the background to the left of Brian. "It was the first time that I had seen him since he left Marylands in 1977.

"My most vivid memory was being on stage during a re- enactment of Noah's Ark and I saw him in the audience. He must have recognised me, even though I was dressed up as a blue fish."

How was Bernard McGrath Christchurch allowed to wreak his trail of destruction spanning three decades? Was there a degree of complicity among the Marylands brotherhood in the 1970s that allowed offending against boys to become a great unspoken? And how did St John of God's system allow for the apparently seamless and secret transfer of errant brothers -- and their abuse -- around the province (New Zealand, Australia, and Papua New Guinea).

St John of God is not the only Catholic religious order that practised this so-called "geographical cure", creating victims in multiple settings believing they were the only ones or were somehow to blame. But it is a classic example of how the system failed to stop its perpetrators and protect children entrusted by the Catholic faithful into their care.

In the last 10 days since the story began unfurling, 11 new complainants have come forward and the order has set up a toll-free hotline (0800 888 463) to headquarters to help others report claims.


* * *


Brian Uttering's experience with McGrath in the 70s paints a disturbing picture of how the rot could set in.

Tired of the fondling, the kissing, and being forced into performing oral sex on McGrath, Brian somehow found the courage as a bewildered 11-year- old to inform the prior, Brother Rodger Moloney, of the abuse.

The complication for Brian, was that he alleges Brother Moloney also abused him once a year before, when he was polishing his shoes alone in a school room. He claims Moloney locked the door behind him and ordered Brian to masturbate him.

Brother Moloney has since been the subject of fresh allegations other than Brian's. His boss, the Australasian head of the order, Brother Peter Burke revealed, somewhat belatedly, this week that Brother Moloney was stood down from his senior job in Sydney three months ago while the order investigates. Until now Brother Moloney has been a member of the provincial council, the order's governing body.

Back at Marylands, Brother Moloney allegedly promised Brian he would sort out his problem with Brother McGrath and told him not to breathe a word to anybody, not even his family.

On Brian's return from his second term holiday in 1977, McGrath was gone. Brother Moloney left shortly after.

McGrath was brought back to Australia and sent to work in another of the order's residential schools in Morisset, near Sydney. He would later be convicted after admitting six sex offences against a boarder named Jason in 1982-83 and jailed for nine months. Jason's mother, Jan, worried about his increasingly depressed state, would phone the school, only to be reassured by McGrath that her son was in the best place. Jason received a $430,000 compensation package from the order last year -- and a written apology from McGrath.

In 1986 McGrath returned to Christchurch, having been invited by the late Catholic Bishop Denis Hanrahan to set up a programme teaching life skills to street kids on the margins of society.

McGrath was later jailed after admitting he abused four youths while working at the Hebron Trust, as well as Brian and another boy at Marylands.


* * *


So what was known about the offending by whom and what was done about it?

Brother Burke is adamant the order did not know about McGrath's offending before a complaint surfaced in February 1992.

From his investigations, another brother (or brothers) may have known about the abuse at the time and could have been party to similar offences.

"That would have been very secret information among a certain group of people, therefore the order itself would not have known," says Brother Burke.

Once the complaint was received, McGrath was immediately withdrawn and sent back to Sydney.

McGrath was then sent to New Mexico and enrolled in a therapy programme at Jemez Springs, run by a Catholic order known as The Servants of the Paraclete (Holy Spirit).

It was initially founded in 1947 as a refuge and treatment centre for priests suffering psychological and emotional crises, but later began treating clergy for sexual disorders.

However, as the Catholic Church in the United States has foundered under wave after wave of sexual abuse scandals, Jemez has come under scrutiny as priests who had supposedly been "cured" were found to have reoffended after returning to ministry.

In 1994, a year after McGrath's treatment period, the Jemez Springs centre was closed in response to revelations about "graduates" from the programme reoffending.

In mid-1993 McGrath voluntarily returned to New Zealand to face his accusers and pleaded guilty to the charges. He served jail terms in New Zealand and Australia and was suspended from the order.

Brother Burke says the system has since been improved to block the migration of suspect brothers. Priors once had control over their empires. If they wanted to shift a brother, they made a phone call to the head of the order and it was as good as done.

"Today if a superior comes to me and says he wants brother X moved I want to know why, and what's behind it and then I will interview that brother before I make a decision," says Brother Burke.


* * * * * *


BERNARD MCGRATH'S PATH

Bernard Kevin McGrath was born in May 1947 into a staunch Irish Catholic family where a nightly family rosary was obligatory.

Children risked a belt with the strap if they spoke out of turn at the table. By today's standards it was a rigid and unforgiving upbringing, subject to the demands of a domineering church and father.

It is understood he was at some stage in his childhood subjected to sexual abuse.

McGrath attended Addington Catholic Primary and Xavier College, then run by the Marist Brothers in Barbadoes Street.

In keeping with Irish Catholic traditions, McGrath in late adolescence acceded to his father's powerful ambitions to see at least one son join the priesthood. The Press understands McGrath did his initial training in Dunedin before joining St John of God's Novitiate in Richmond near Sydney.

He was suspended from the order, due to child sex offences which earned two jail terms. McGrath now lives in Christchurch with his brother, Clem McGrath.

Bernard McGrath left the city last weekend after a victim spoke publicly for the first time about his abuse. The Press invited McGrath to follow the example of US priests who came forward and sought reconciliation with victims. He declined.

His brother Clem criticised the paper's coverage of the issues and also rejected an opportunity to discuss them with The Press: "The article ... revealed details that may well have been damaging and distressing to all those involved. I also doubt whether any real healing can be achieved through such a public forum. Bernard has indeed paid his debt to society and in the past has had appropriate reconciliation with some of his victims. Bernard is acutely aware of the pain he has caused and continues to take responsibility for his past actions in ways that are appropriate in his life."