Royal Commission Hears Child Sex Abuse Inquiry
The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse is holding the much-awaited public hearings in Ballarat. The case revolves around the rampant abuse suffered by kids at quite a few schools in the regional centre.
The Catholic clergy and other members of the church have been blamed for the gory deeds.
The chairman of the Royal Commission, Justice Peter McClellan said a public hearing in Ballarat began on Tuesday and is slated to hear personal stories of not only the survivors but the guilty parties also.
Senior Counsel assisting the commission, Gail Furness said that the inquiry would hear evidence that an infamous paedophile priest named Gerald Ridsdale sodomised every boy at a regional Victorian school between the age of 10 and 16.
The Royal Commission Into Institutional Responses To Child Sexual Abuse will hear of “gross violations of individuals by ordained members of the Catholic church” in Ballarat, Victoria, the chairman said on Tuesday.
McClellan said that not only did the individuals suffer but the suffering reached their immediate family members and friends too as the impact was felt across the community spectrum. People told him of the magnanimous scale of abuse during private sessions in the Victorian regional city of Ballarat.
The chairman opined, “It will be particularly important in helping the community to learn of the knowledge that people in authority in the church had of the abuse and will assist us to assess the response of those in charge.”
He also remarked that the proof from the culprits of this heinous crime would help to discover why ordained members of the Catholic church became abusers. It will also facilitate in letting know how the church responded to such insidious allegations.
Some of the country's most notorious abusers formed a paedophile ring which was in motion around Ballarat for years altogether. The guilty included Robert Best, Edward Dowlan and Gerald Ridsdale.
Furness said victim Timothy Green who was abused at St Patrick’s College, would provide proof that it was well known among students in his year that Brother Edward Vernon Dowlan was abusing several boys, but the matter was kept under wraps and not talked about. Green is going to disclose that Christian Brothers, lay teachers, nurses and even some parents were not oblivious to the abuse by Dowlan.
The writer can be contacted at ritambanati@yahoo.com
