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Allegations of Abuse |
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The abuse was allegedly committed
by an employee of the unit, who is alleged to have then seriously assaulted
another boy. Barr will lodge an official
complaint with Presbyterian Support Services (PSS) by the end of the week. The first allegations of abuse
emerged earlier this week when the Wellington-based central central region
branch of PSS confirmed two sexual abuse claims had been received and
investigated, and two other allegations made against a former employee of one
of their children's homes. The Barr's lawyer has an affidavit
from a witness who spoke to Barr and the other alleged victim and witnessed
their injuries immediately after the attack, saying he saw the complainant
with severe facial bruising and black eyes. Barr says the alleged attack
happened in 1956 after he made a sarcastic comment to the manager about being
allowed to listen to a radio programme. "He dragged me by my hair down
the hall, punching and kicking me,then gave me a severe beating. "It was out of control,
savage. It was like being attacked by a bloody madman." He says the beating was far beyond
what was considered an acceptable level of discipline at the time. "I had black eyes, I was
covered in welts on my back and buttocks. "We came from an area[sic]
where six of the best was nothing, we took it like an honour. Six of the best
would have been OK. Getting beaten like that was never acceptable." The home had a climate of constant
fear, with boys "copping a beating" virtually daily from the
alleged offender. 'To my memory he was a really out
of control person, an ill- tempered guy. When somebody would bowl him out at
cricket, he went all red and we knew we were going to cop it, "He used his fists
indiscriminately on people." He alleges one boy was beaten by
the staff member with a stick with nails in it. Barr was eight years old when he
and his two brothers, children of a broken home, were sent to "We came from broken homes,
we weren't there because we were bad kids." He said only some boys were on the
receiving end of the alleged assaults, which usually happened out of sight of
other staff members and boys. The bruises and welts sustained in the alleged
beatings did not attract the attention of authorities. The 82-year-old accused of the
abuse told The Press Barr's claims were "absolute lies". He recalled the incident Barr was
referring to, but had a different account, saying Barr had simply been given
"six of the best" — a strap on the hand. Barr had been a "red-headed
bully", feared by other children, who had to be disciplined for his
continual bullying. "When we disciplined him he
couldn't take it." Barr's father had laid a complaint
with the home's committee over the matter at the time. "The committee at
the home looked into the matter and felt it was just discipline being dealt
with, it was normal," the former staff member said. "We would have had deep
problems if we had done (what is alleged), my board wouldn't have stood for
it." He was confused by Barr's
motivations in laying the complaint as Barr had visited his house in
intervening years to seek personal advice, "If these things have got to
him, why would he seek our help and advice? It doesn't line up, does
it?" Barr first contacted PSS through a
counsellor, in January, and said he left the meeting under the impression the
agency was investigating the allegations. PSS executive director John
Elvidge said the January discussion left the matter in Barr's hands, and the
agency was still awaiting a formal complaint. It could only confirm that
concerns had been expressed by a former resident of a home in the 1960s. "Half a century later it is
difficult for those of us who were not there to know the specific
circumstances in the homes. The Presbyterian orphanages were undoubtedly
strict places to be brought up. "We
believe that the homes were well supervised- and theyclearly provided a good
start in life for hundreds of children." |
