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Accusations of Abuse in Institutions

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The Press
July 11, 2002

Four brothers accused
by Yvonne Martin

Four Marist Brothers who worked in the South Island have had allegations of sexual abuse made against them.

The order has confirmed that none remain in public ministry.

Two brothers who taught at Xavier College, formerly in Barbadoes Street, have had complaints laid against them by two former pupils from the 1960s.

One of those brothers is now retired, in his 80s, and living in a community of older brothers. He has denied any abuse, but Marist Brothers has written an apology to the complainant regardless.

The other former Xavier brother left the order in 1968. The police are investigating a complaint alleging sexual and physical abuse from a former pupil, now 53.

A third brother from Marist Brothers' High School in Greymouth, who has been accused of abuse, has been dead for years. A complaint was in the process of being resolved, said Brother Henry Spinks, who heads the order's professional standards committee. (The school merged with St Mary's High School to form John Paul ll High School in 1980.)

A former Christchurch headmaster, Brother Kenneth Camden, was jailed for eight months in 1990 after admitting indecencies against two boys. He remains a Marist brother, is retired, and living in a brothers' community.

Brother Spinks acknowledged it was a tough time for the order.

"A lot of the brothers are feeling the pain of it all," he said.

"The most devastating thing is that you could be living with somebody who in all outward signs is being a good and faithful Marist Brother. When this sort of thing happens it is really shattering to think that person was living such a double life. Everybody feels the smirch of it all."

Marist Brothers has nearly 100 brothers in the New Zealand province (which includes Fiji, Kiribati, Samoa, and Tonga), but it has had up to 300 members in the past.

A former Marist priest, Alan Woodcock, (who taught music at St Patrick's College at Silverstream in Upper Hutt) is being considered for extradition from England, after police received new complaints against him.

Meanwhile, Brother Peter Burke, the Australasian leader of another Catholic group, the Order of St John of God, is expected in Christchurch next week. He plans to meet 11 alleged victims and family members, linked to the now-closed Marylands residential school.

Four Christchurch St John of God brothers have had claims made against them in the past, for which the order has paid out $300,000 to five complainants. None remain working for the order. One senior brother was stood down from all duties more than three months ago, while the order investigates fresh claims against him.

Brother Burke has accepted a request to meet with the Christchurch police who are investigating several abuse complaints against former Marylands brothers.

He will also visit Paparua Prison in Christchurch where three inmates have complained of abuse.

Visiting with Brother Burke will be his public relations adviser, Simon Feely, and Michelle Mulvihill, director of The Independent Complaint Management Centre, a Sydney-based consultancy.