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Accusations of Abuse in Institutions

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Index: Accusations in Institutions

<<< earlier News Reports Jan-May 2002 later >>>

2002-0531 - Evening Post - Silence is not golden
Letter to the Editor by Phillida Bunkle - I applaud counsellor Brent Cherry for speaking up against the gagging orders used by the Catholic Church to silence the victims of sexual abuse when they reach out-of court settlements with victims (The Evening Post, May 20). In my experience, these silencing provisions are thrust on victims whose lives are in turmoil from dealing with sexual abuse. They fear that if they do not accept them they will get no help. By misusing its power in this way, the Church doubles the abuse.

2002-0521 - Evening Post - Catholic Church and the sex abuse virus
Allegations of a coverup in the Roman Catholic Church's dealings over sex abuse in its New Zealand ranks will give no comfort to the Church hierarchy. Or to the faithful who will be wondering how trusted priests behave when mums and dads are not looking. The hidden sex abuse virus, exposed most dramatically in Boston in the United States, is not peculiar to that city's diocese.

2002-0520 - Evening Post - Church accused of abuse cover-up
by Antony Paltridge - The Catholic Church has failed to confront the legacy of sexual abuse in its ranks and is still covering it up, says a counsellor who has helped victims of clerical sexual abuse. Lower Hutt's Brent Cherry, a long-standing ACC-approved counsellor, said he had counselled eight male victims of abuse in Wellington inflicted by six priests or members of Catholic religious orders. He is angry that New Zealand's most senior Catholic cleric, The Most Rev Cardinal Tom Williams, told The Evening Post late last month that New Zealand would not suffer the incidence of sexual abuse rocking the Church in the United States.

2002-0511 - The Press - US sex-abuse scandal mirrors NZ - ex-priest
by Yvonne Martin - Former Christchurch priest John Gawith says the Catholic clergy sex-abuse scandal -- and official cover-up -- in the United States mirrors what occurred in New Zealand in the 1980s. He left the priesthood in 1989, disillusioned with the church's conservatism and its reluctance to tackle sex-abuse problems. The culture among Catholic leaders at that time, as in the US, was to protect their own and transfer errant priests to other areas, Mr Gawith said

2002-0511 - The Press - Sins of the fathers
by Yvonne Martin - A clergy sex abuse scandal in the United States has shaken the faith of Catholics everywhere, provoking fresh debate on taboos of celibacy, homosexuality, married priests, and women clergy. The Catholic Bishop of Christchurch, John Cunneen, is well aware that his religion is the butt of office jokes right now. As allegations of clergy sex abuse and official cover-up mount in the United States, he knows that the Catholic reputation has been sullied worldwide.

2002-0510 - Southland Times - Catholicism
Letter to the Editor by Tom O'Connor - Frank Fischer's attack on what he calls the "mass sexual hysteria of the English-speaking media" is both misdirected and unfair. Catholic priests or teachers who abuse children in their care deserve the full force of public animosity and vigorous lawful retribution. The cases of sexual crime by the Catholic clergy, which have come to public notice over the years, are only the tip of a very large and ugly iceberg.

2002-0510 - Otago Daily Times - Compensation for Lake Alice patients may see others also claim
by Gail Goodger - Offering Government cash awards to allegedly mistreated former Lake Alice psychiatric patients could increase political pressure for others to receive settlements, including former Cherry Farm patients, a Dunedin mental health law specialist says. Former Lake Alice patients say electro-convulsive therapy was used as punishment in the hospital's child and adolescent unit between 1972 and 1978. The Government has responded by reaching a settlement with 95 former patients who filed legal proceedings and giving other patients, who might not want to be involved in legal proceedings, two months to apply for a cash award under a Government-funded scheme.

2002-0510 - Dominion - Lake Alice abuse victims given deadline for claims
The Government has given former Lake Alice psychiatric hospital patients who believe they were mistreated by staff a two-month deadline in which to apply for compensation. Prime Minister Helen Clark and Health Minister Annette King announced yesterday that former patients had till June 30 to apply for a cash award under a Government-funded scheme. Last year a group of 95 former patients, who were tortured and sexually abused by staff at the hospital's child and adolescent unit between 1972 and 1978, received a $6.5 million settlement and an apology from the Government.

2002-0504 - Evening Post - Man indecently abused daughter
Church leaders knew a congregation member had sexually abused his daughter but chose to deal with the abuse within the church, Wellington District Court heard yesterday. It was only when the man's former wife contacted her family again that she learned of the abuse and wanted police involved. The man then went to police and confessed before they'd even received a complaint.

2002-0430 - Evening Post - Abuse appeal fails
A man who said a "trainee priest" sexually abused him as a child, has failed to overturn an indefinite jail sentence for abusing a young girl. The Court of Appeal, sitting at Auckland last week, dismissed Glenn Andrew Churches' appeal against a term of preventive detention

2002-0424 - Evening Post - Plea to compile abuse figures
by Antony Paltridge - Figures on sexual abuse by Catholic Church clergy are vital to a more open and accountable way of dealing with the problem, says a survivors group. The Catholic Church needs to compile accurate statistics of clergy found to be sexual abusers, says a group that supports women abused by clerics. A spokeswoman for the Susanna Group, which represents women survivors of clerical abuse, served a four-year term on the Wellington diocese's protocol committee, which investigates allegations of abuse against Catholic clergy.

2002-0420 - The Press - Predators pledge by churches
by Andrew Moffat and NZPA - Church leaders say every effort is being made to protect children under their care from sexual predators. This week in the Christchurch District Court, George Darren Cant, 35, admitted charges of indecently assaulting four boys and a girl while he was taking part in church group activities. A boy, aged six, and his seven-year-old sister were among the victims. The name of the church group has been suppressed. Cant will be sentenced in June

2002-0417 - Evening Post - Suing Church harder now
Victims of religious sexual abuse who want to sue their Church have had their options severely narrowed, says a Wellington lawyer who specialises in ACC cases. While New Zealand introduced a no-fault scheme for personal injuries - including victims of sexual abuse - in 1972, some limited areas for court action remained. Barrister Hazel Armstrong said a Court of Appeal judgment late last year on the case of several Telecom workers who suffered occupational overuse syndrome significantly reduced the chances of anyone winning compensation for an injury if it was covered by ACC.

2002-0417 - Evening Post - No priestly sex crisis here - Cardinal
by Antony Paltridge - The Catholic Church's rules about celibacy do not lie behind what are relatively rare cases of sexual abuse by priests, says Cardinal Tom Williams. New Zealand's most senior Catholic cleric does not believe New Zealand Catholics will have to face the sexual abuse crisis that has rocked the Church in the United States. In recent weeks the US Catholic Church has been rocked by allegations of child abuse levelled at priests and has paid millions of dollars to settle claims against it. But the Most Rev Cardinal Tom Williams said he did not believe there would be "any surprises" for the Catholic Church in New Zealand.

2002-0409 - Evening Post - Pope has taken the first step
Letter to the Editor by Jack Mulheron - At the same time as you published my letter on the sexual conduct of clergy (Letters, March 7), the Pope broke his silence on the wave of child sexual scandals involving priests, saying their abuse of minors was the "worst form of evil possible" and cast a dark "shadow of suspicion" over the entire Church

2002-0409 - Evening Post - Clerical predators
Letter to the Editor by Brian Quin -You are rightly angry at the sexual abuse of children by some Catholic priests (Editorial, March 27), and I share your anger. Nevertheless, I think some of your comments are not fair.

2002-0404 - Evening Post - Perverts should be purged
Letter to the Editor by R Devlin - Like all Roman Catholics, I am appalled and very concerned at the comments attributed to Pope John Paul II (Editorial, March 27). But at the same time, if sexual abuse of children is to continue unabated within the Church, it is the Pope as leader who must be forceful and stamp it out.

2002-0327 - Evening Post - Children, not priests are Church's victims
A worldwide scandal is enveloping the Roman Catholic Church involving priests who sexually abuse children. The Church in the US has recently agreed to multimillion-dollar payouts to victims of a defrocked priest and in the past two months alone, 55 priests in 17 dioceses have been suspended, put on leave or forced to resign or retire. Last weekend, Pope John Paul II broke his silence on the subject. He seemed to be saying, "Never mind the kids; what about the Church?" The worldwide scandal, he said, was undermining its moral authority.

2002-0325 - The Press - Predator: priest who got away
A Catholic priest who sexually abused young boys in Melbourne for more than 20 years is unlikely to face prosecution after fleeing to Britain. The Catholic Church has so far paid out more than $50,000 in compensation, provided counselling and made formal apologies to victims whose lives were shattered by Father Ronald Dennis Pickering.

2002-0324 - Sunday Star Times - Church Abuse
Letter to the Editor by Babs Johnson - The interesting article "The price of sin" (March 17) was illustrated by a picture showing a pair of hands holding a rosary. But the article itself makes hardly any reference to all the sexual abuse - especially child abuse - rife in the Roman Catholic church. Several references are made to sexual abuse by Anglican clergy, especially in Christchurch. But most of this stems from the actions of one former Anglican priest

2002-0319 - Evening Post - Teacher 'cruel and sadistic' - former student
Raumati's Robin Warnes believes he was emotionally and physically abused as a child - by teachers who taught him. Mr Warnes, 54, was prompted to speak out after reading of the abuse which former child patients suffered at Porirua Hospital. While not on the same scale as the abuse suffered at Porirua, Mr Warnes believes institutional abuse is no different if it occurred in a hospital or a school and that the victims should be recognised and compensated. He's now considering consulting a lawyer, a course Commissioner for Children Roger McClay believes he should follow.

2002-0317 - The Age - Psychiatrist faces new probe
By William Birnbauer - Melbourne psychiatrist Dr Selwyn Leeks is being investigated by New Zealand police after 34 former patients claimed they were abused in his care in the 1970s. The patients say they were given electric shocks and pain-inducing injections when they were children at Lake Alice Hospital near Palmerston North. Late last year almost 100 former Lake Alice patients received $5.3 million in compensation and a public apology from New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark in settlement of a class action.

2002-0317 - Sunday Star Times - Lake Alice boss defiant in face of claims
by Graeme Hammond - The psychiatrist at the centre of the Lake Alice hospital scandal has shrugged off the prospect of facing criminal charges over the alleged abuse of child patients. Dr Selwyn Leeks, 72, who was head psychiatrist at Lake Alice in the 1970s when patients were allegedly punished with electro-convulsive therapy, said he was not bothered that criminal complaints from 34 former patients had been laid with New Zealand police. "I'm not worried," he said. "This has all been dealt with before. "And I'm still practising."

2002-0313 - Stuff - Number of Porirua abuse cases rising by the day
NZPA - The number of people coming forward with claims of abuse while in care at Porirua Hospital's psychiatric department, is rising by the day, the lawyer representing them said today. While yesterday's claim of 25 was probably exaggerated, Wellington lawyer Sonja Cooper said the actual figure was rapidly rising. She said today she planned to speak to at least six more people who had contacted her about lodging claims against the Government alleging they were sexually, physically and emotionally abused in the hospital's care from the mid-1960s through to the late 1980s.

2002-0313 - Otago Daily Times - More ex-Porirua patients claim abuse
NZPA - Wellington: The list of former Porirua Hospital patients who claim they were tortured and abused there as children in the 1960s and 1970s grew to about 25 yesterday. A report on Monday detailing plans by a small group of former patients to sue the Crown over their treatment had prompted a flood of calls, Wellington lawyer Sonja Cooper said.

2002-0313 - Otago Daily Times - Child patient reveals terror of Porirua Hospital
by Fran Tyler, of the Dominion - There were mattresses there, but I didn't always get one - sometimes I got a blanket. There was nothing on the floor. A former child psychiatric patient who is taking legal action against Porirua Hospital talks to Fran Tyler, of the Dominion , about the abuse she suffered in the 1970s.

2002-0313 - NZ Herald - Abuse claims by former Porirua patients hit 25
by Martin Johnston and NZPA - The number of former Porirua Hospital patients complaining they were abused as children at the psychiatric unit has risen to about 25. Lawyers Sonja Cooper and Jane Hunter have urged former patients to tell them of abuse, and are preparing a case against the Government for compensation. By last night about 25 people had come forward telling of abuse in the 1960s and 1970s. Most were aged 11 or 12 when they were in the hospital. The youngest was seven. Last year, 95 former child patients of Lake Alice Hospital near Marton received about $6.5 million in compensation and an apology from the Government for abuse at the mental institution in the 1970s.

2002-0313 - Dominion - 25 former patients claim abuse
by Fran Tyler - The list of former Porirua Hospital patients who claim they were tortured and abused there in the 1960s and 70s grew to about 25 yesterday. An article published in The Dominion on Monday detailing plans by a group of former patients to sue the Crown about their treatment had prompted a flood of calls, Wellington lawyer Sonja Cooper said. Ms Cooper and Nelson-based lawyer Jane Hunter are acting for the patients, who allege they were sexually, physically and emotionally abused, subjected to electroconvulsive therapy (shock treatment) - sometimes without anaesthetic - and given painful injections of the drug paraldehyde as a punishment.

2002-0312 - Otago Daily Times - Former patients take action over abuse allegations
NZPA - Wellington: As former child patients of one psychiatric hospital yesterday laid criminal complaints against their psychiatrist over their ill-treatment, another hospital was under the spotlight over similar abuse allegations. Former child patients of Lake Alice Hospital in the Manawatu laid 34 complaints with police against Selwyn Leeks, head psychiatrist in the 1970s at the hospital's child and adolescent unit.

2002-0312 - NZ Herald - Former Lake Alice patients lay abuse claims
by Paula Oliver - Thirty-four criminal complaints of torture and sexual abuse have been laid against former staff members of Lake Alice Hospital near Marton as fresh claims emerge of identical abuse at another of the country's mental institutions. The criminal claims dating back to the 1970s were received by police yesterday. They target several former Lake Alice staff members. Last year, 95 former child patients of Lake Alice received about $6.5 million in compensation and an apology from the Government for abuse they received at the mental institution in the 1970s.

2002-0312 - Dominion - More former Porirua patients claim abuse
The number of former Porirua Hospital patients planning to sue the Crown for alleged abuse they suffered as children is growing. Wellington lawyer Sonja Cooper and Nelson-based Jane Hunter are acting for a small group of former patients who claim to have suffered abuse in the late 1960s and 970s. According to Ms Cooper, those who had come forward so far, all women, had told remarkably similar stories. All were children when they were in the hospital in the late 1960s and 1970s and all had "behavioural difficulties".

2002-0311 - Dominion - Where nightmares begin
A former child psychiatric patient who is taking legal action against Porirua Hospital talks to Fran Tyler about the abuse she suffered in the 1960s. At 11 years of age, Gina was locked in a tiny cell in a mental hospital. For three years she was subjected to sexual, physical and emotional abuse, injected with painful drugs and given electric shock therapy without anaesthetic. Gina (not her real name) doesn't know why she was put in Porirua Hospital. Her records don't show any good reason either. But she does remember vividly the terror and the torture she went through in her tiny locked cell.

2002-0310 - Sunday Star Times - Eight complaints of clergy abuse
By Amanda Cropp - The Christchurch diocese of the Anglican Church has received eight complaints of sexual misconduct by clergy over the past decade but has refused to confirm whether it has paid financial compensation to any complainants. Bishop David Coles said all eight complaints had been resolved but would not reveal any further details. 'I am unable to comment on specific claims because of the agreement to confidentiality (sic) with any claimant regarding settlement of complaints.'

2002-0305 - NZ Herald - Church protocol ensures vulnerable are protected
by Richard Randerson - Richard Randerson is vicar-general of the Anglican Diocese of Auckland and dean of Holy Trinity Cathedral, Parnell. The Anglican Church's law in New Zealand for dealing with sexual abuse guards against a repetition of the controversy surrounding Australia's Governor-General. The controversy surrounding Australia's Governor-General raises important issues not only for clergy but for all who deal professionally with people in times of personal need. As an Anglican bishop in Australia from 1994 to 1999, and since my return to this country, I have had to deal with several such cases, two of them serious.

2002-0304 - Otago Daily Times - Church prepares compensation
NZPA - Christchurch: Women who are claiming compensation for alleged sexual misconduct against them by a prominent former Christchurch cleric are being asked to undergo psychiatric assessments. The Anglican Church is preparing to pay compensation to the women.

2002-0303 - Sunday Star Times - Church in sex claims
by Amanda Cropp - The Anglican Church is facing hefty compensation claims from women who say they were sexually harassed and abused by an Anglican priest. Although the church has denied legal liability, it has now agreed to consider paying compensation if the women concerned undergo psychiatric assessment. Two women are seeking between $160,000 and $180,000 each for counselling and other costs arising from alleged abuse by Rob McCullough. Complaints about sexual misconduct by McCullough, once a high profile Christchurch priest, go back to 1989 when a group of women alerted church leaders

2002-0302 - NZ Herald - NZ's churches prepared for sexual abuse claims
by James Gardiner - New Zealand churches have dealt with complaints of child molestation resulting in priests being defrocked and secret out-of-court compensation payments being made to victims. As churches throughout the world continue to be rocked by child sex abuse scandals and allegations of cover-ups, churches in New Zealand have been reviewing how they deal with similar complaints. The three largest - Anglican, Catholic and Presbyterian, with around half a million followers each - have procedures to deal with complaints internally.

2002-0206 - Otago Daily Times - Damages claim arising from foster family's abuse disallowed
NZPA - A man who, in a landmark case, sued the Government for a total of $700,000 after he was sexually, physically and emotionally abused in foster care, has lost his fight in the High Court at Wellington. In an 84-page written decision yesterday, Justice Young said the child welfare officers of the time had acted in what they believed to be the best interests of the man, known only as Mr S. In the 1950s Mr S and his three brothers were abandoned by their natural parents. Their mother was psychiatrically ill and she and their father were not able to look after their eight children.