Child sex abuse royal commission: Salvation Army abuse victim recalls rape and bashing
Updated
A victim of child sexual abuse burst into tears at a public hearing as he recalled being raped by a Salvation Army officer at a boys' home.
The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse heard the man's account at its 10th public inquiry in Sydney.
The new inquiry is set to examine how the charity handled complaints against its staff in the Salvation Army's Eastern Territory from 1993 until now.
The man, known as JF, was nine when he and some of his siblings were sent to the Alkira boys' home in the Brisbane suburb of Indooroopilly.
It was 1948, and his father had just shot and killed his mother.
JF stayed there for more than six years, during which time he endured physical abuse during exercise sessions at the hands of an officer known as Captain X-18.
"I was forced to train, but experienced unbearable pain every time I landed on my feet after going over the wooden horse," he said.
"Captain X-18 told me that I was making it up. He grabbed me by the shirt, pulled me towards him and kneed me in the stomach.
"I passed out and woke up in the hospital the next day with a burst appendix."
Captain X-18 also humiliated JF during shower time, and JF says he was choked and raped by one of the officers at Indooroopilly.
When he reported the rape to the home's manager, JF says he was beaten with a cane.
"I believed that the officer who raped me also sexually abused other boys because I often heard boys crying in that particular officer's bedroom," he said.
"The emotional impact of being in the home was particularly bad, because you never knew what was going to happen."
A lawyer read JF's statement after he broke down.
'No action was taken about the man who raped me'
The inquiry also heard JF reported the abuse 60 years after it happened, and decided to ask the Salvation Army for an apology and compensation.
In 2008, JF sent them his victim impact statement and received a letter from Major Daphne Cox, saying the Salvation Army wanted to do all it could to help.
The royal commission heard that Major Cox discussed JF's claims with Captain X-18, who replied: "The accusation that concerns me most... is that of sodomy. I'm appalled if that actually did happen. If that accusation is correct, I believe the matter should be resolved and the man responsible, if he is still alive, should be brought to justice."
Today JF said that was the first time that he had heard that Captian X-18 was supportive of his claims being brought to justice.
In May 2009 Major Cox wrote a letter to JF offering an ex gratia payment of $30,000, which was conditional on him signing a deed of release.
He had no opportunity to negotiate, and he could not afford a lawyer. The deed of release meant he could not pursue legal action.
JF says what he really wanted was an apology in person, and an investigation.
"They could have reported it to the police. I felt left in the dark and no action was taken about the man who raped me," he said.
"I didn't feel the 'sorry' meant anything. You can say 'sorry' for anything."
JF said the compensation figure did not compare to what other victims have received.
"At the time I thought the offer was pretty good, because I didn't have any money. But now I think it's completely inadequate for what they did to me, and I have no idea how they arrived at that amount," he said.
The lawyer representing the Salvation Army, Kate Eastman, told the commission the Salvation Army acknowledged that its systems had sometimes failed survivors.
Pell publicly apologises to abuse victim Ellis
The new inquiry follows a hearing earlier this year which explored harrowing accounts of abuse at boys' homes run by the organisation in New South Wales and Queensland between the 1950s and the 1970s.
The hearing, which is expected to last for up to a fortnight, has been told children were beaten and raped by Salvation Army officers.
It has heard various victims felt "shut down" and "conned" when they came forward. Some were accused of lying and others received very little compensation.
Counsel assisting the commission, Simeon Beckett, says the evidence is likely to reveal that one man, known as EF, was raped multiple times by a Salvation Army Major and received "only $11,000" in compensation.
After JF's testimony, Australia's most senior Catholic cleric, Cardinal George Pell, was called back to answer more questions about his role in the case of former altar boy John Ellis.
Mr Ellis was abused by a priest in the 1970s, but lost a legal battle in 2007 when the Court of Appeal ruled the Catholic Church was not an entity that could be sued.
Before the case Mr Ellis asked for $100,000 but was offered $30,000.
The court costs far exceeded Mr Ellis's original request for compensation.
Cardinal Pell has previously apologised to the victim in a statement tendered to the royal commission, and today he conveyed that in the hearing room.
"I want publicly to say sorry to him for the hurt caused him by the mistakes made, admitted by me, my archdiocesan personnel during the course of the Towards Healing process and litigation," he said.
Mr Ellis, who sat in the front row of today's hearing, did not react.
- Pell admits Church refused to negotiate with John Ellis
- Pell says Church stance on Ellis case unfair 'from Christian point of view'
- Pell tells child abuse inquiry Ellis case 'too well fought'
- Salvation Army hearing prompts spike in responses to royal commission
- Salvation Army leader cries while apologising to victims
- Child welfare officers aware of abuse at Salvation Army boys home
Topics: royal-commissions, child-abuse, charities-and-community-organisations, sydney-2000, australia, indooroopilly-4068, qld
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