Australia's national apology: Why some survivors of sexual abuse won't or can't go
AM By Thomas Oriti
PHOTO: Royleston Boys Home in Sydney where Geoff Meyers grew up during the 1940s.
(Supplied: NSW Child Welfare Department)
Today's national apology to survivors of child sexual abuse marks a historic and highly anticipated moment for many, but others have decided not to, or can't, make the trip to Canberra.
Geoff Meyers, now 82, grew up in the Royleston Boys Home in the Sydney suburb of Glebe during the 1940s and experienced physical and sexual abuse from the age of five. It continued for almost a decade.
"You're living it all the time," he said. "I watch the news, I watch movies, I read the papers, and I see it happening every day of the week. It's just a reminder of when I was a child, and it's pretty terrifying actually."
If you or anyone you know needs help:
Lifeline on 13 11 14
Kids Helpline on 1800 551 800
MensLine Australia on 1300 789 978
Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467
Beyond Blue on 1300 22 46 36
Headspace on 1800 650 890
QLife on 1800 184 527
"Well I'm sorry too, because
they're still doing it to children today."
Mr Meyers has never had any interest in going to Canberra for the apology. "I believe this apology is being done for the people overseas," he said. "So they can look back at Australia and say, 'oh, these people are sorry for what they've done'. Well I'm sorry too, because they're still doing it to children today."
Redress 'way under the limit'
Mr Meyers believes the Federal Government's redress amount is not enough for survivors. He has lodged an application for compensation, but says there is no point apologising if the signature scheme is not up to scratch.
"The recommendation from the royal commission was redress of $200,000, which was way under the limit in any case," he said. "The Government cut it down to $150,000 in their wisdom."
Head of Care Leavers Australasia Network (CLAN) Leonie Sheedy also considered boycotting the national apology because of concerns about the redress scheme. She was unhappy about the application requiring victim impact statements; re-traumatising survivors and being made available to institutions.
But she has changed her mind since the Prime Minister met with her and promised to make changes. "I think I can turn up there now with the love and support of [my husband] Warren, and I think all the care leavers of Australia, they need to have the love and support of the head of CLAN," she told the ABC.
'They're not sorry for what they did to me as a child'
Peter Gogarty was abused by a Catholic Priest in the 1970s in the New South Wales Hunter Region. He told the ABC he has decided not to go, either.
PHOTO: Peter Gogarty says there have been so many apologies but questions the lack of action. (ABC News)
"I think it's probably really important that there is some sort of national apology," he said. "But my concern is that we've had a lot of apologies from institutions in recent years, and so many 'I'm sorry's', but I still think there's a lot of action lacking that would really put some meat on those apologies. And I just don't see it, so I suppose at the moment, I'm indifferent at best."
Mr Gogarty wants to see a regulatory body established, similar to the banking regulator APRA, to monitor all institutions involved.
For others, questions remain about the entire focus of the event.
Yvonne Smith was abused in state care when she was eight years old.
When she spoke to the ABC, she had not decided whether she was going to attend the national apology.
PHOTO: Yvonne Smith has doubts about the scope and sincerity of the national apology. (Twitter: CLAN)
But she expressed concerns about its scope and sincerity. "It's good for the people that really need it," she said. "But I feel it's not affecting me in a way, because they're not sorry for what they did to me as a child, and it's affected me all my life."
Ms Smith is concerned the royal commission, and the response to it, concentrates only on survivors who were sexually abused. "I just feel very sad that we weren't included," she said.
The courage to put children first
For others who can't attend, it will still be an emotional moment.
Tony Duffy from Toowoomba is terminally ill, and his family hopes he will still be alive for Christmas. His wife, Karen, said he was put into care at homes run by the Salvation Army from the age of seven.
"It was physical and sexual abuse, the worst of the worst," she said.
"If he was never in any of those care homes he wouldn't have ended up taking the path that he did and ending up with hepatitis C from drug use, and now liver cancer which he's dying from."
PHOTO: Karen Duffy's husband is terminally ill and won't be in Canberra for the apology.
Mr Duffy's health is deteriorating rapidly, or he would be there in Canberra.
But today's apology will still mean a lot from a distance. "Tony will be feeling very relieved that there has been recognition, that people are stepping up and saying sorry," Mrs Duffy said.
"They are getting recognition for what really did happen, and it's not getting brushed under the carpet."
But many would argue there is still a long way to go before child sexual abuse is a crime of the past.
Joanne McCarthy was the reporter at the Newcastle Herald whose stories brought the issue to the front of the public's mind.
She has been writing about it and talking to survivors since 2006.
PHOTO: The front page of the Newcastle Herald on November 13, 2012, the day after prime minister Julia Gillard announced the royal commission.
Unfortunately, I can't help but think this was an attempt by the Herald to put itself in the same category as the Boston Globe's Spotlight.
"Every single day I have something to do with institutional child sexual abuse, whether it's somebody contacting me by various means — and that's been the case since about 2008," Ms McCarthy said.
She thinks a national apology is important because it expresses sorrow and is "a sign of a grown-up nation".
But she wants people to give more thought to the children around them and to what could be happening to them, and to put their safety first.
"Are people prepared to step up? Are they prepared to look? Are they prepared to ask a question? Are they prepared to contact authorities? And then when they contact authorities, are there appropriate responses from those government authorities?"
At the royal commission, Ms McCarthy was struck by the evidence given by people who had worked in institutions — not just the leaders.
"They had an opportunity to go one way or the other way, to act with kindness or to act with coldness and a chilling sort of bureaucratic response," she said.
"And so I wonder, and a few other people wonder, whether enough people have really thought that one through; that sometimes it takes a little bit of courage to say this is wrong and to do something about it."
Sexual assault trial of Canada's former national women's gymnastics coach begins
'The gymnastics community is holding its breath,' says Canadian Olympic gold medallist Kyle Shewfelt
Devin Heroux · CBC Sports
A sexual assault trial involving the former coach of the Canadian national women's gymnastics team begins Monday in Sarnia, Ontario.
Dave Brubaker, 55, is facing multiple sexual offences spanning an eight-year period from 2000 to 2007. The allegations stem from a series of incidents involving Brubaker and a female who he was coaching and was under the age of 16 during at least some of the alleged offences.
The charges include sexual assault, sexual interference, sexual exploitation and invitation to sexual touching.
Brubaker is a well-known figure in the Canadian and international gymnastics community, serving as coach for Canada's national women's gymnastics teams for the 2012 and 2016 Olympics. He's been the director of the Bluewater Gymnastics Club in Sarnia since 1985.
Brubaker's arrest last December sent shock waves through the Canadian gymnastics community. Gymnastics Canada, in a statement issued at the time, said it was "shocked and deeply troubled by the news."
"Our first priority within Gymnastics Canada is always the safety of our athletes," said Richard Crépin, the former chair of the board of directors. "Sport should be a safe place for everyone, and we're working hard to ensure that we have the policies and procedures, as well as the education and resources, in place to ensure the safety of all of our participants."
Placed on leave
After police laid charges, Brubaker was immediately placed on administrative leave from Gymnastics Canada. The Bluewater Gymnastics board also placed him on indefinite unpaid leave and said he would no longer be allowed on the property.
Brubaker is currently out on bail and restricted from associating with the complainant, as well as working or volunteering with anyone under the age of 16. The judge-only trial is expected to wrap up on Wednesday.
Canada's Kyle Shewfelt captured gold at the 2004 Olympics
in Athens and is now a coach in Calgary.
(Kevork Djansezian/Associated Press)
Calgary's Kyle Shewfelt, a 2004 Olympic gold medallist in gymnastics and now a coach, has known Brubaker for years and said he was in "total shock" when he first learned of the charges.
"I think that the gymnastics community is holding its breath, waiting to see what comes forth," Shewfelt said, based on conversations he's had with other athletes and coaches.
"I think there are a lot of people still who don't know where to stand on this. And I think that it's going to take a judge's verdict in order for people to make a decision and a commitment to how they move forward."
Brubaker isn't the only Canadian gymnastics coach charged with sexual offences this year.
In January, Scott McFarlane, a gymnastics coach from Ottawa, was charged with sexual assault and child luring after a 15-year-old girl went to Peel Regional Police with allegations of multiple sex-related incidents alleged to have happened over a four-year period while MacFarlane was working as a coach at Manjak's Gymnastics in Mississauga, Ont.
And in May, Edmonton-based coach Michel Arsenault was arrested and charged (10th story on link) with sexually assaulting three former students in Quebec in the 1980s and 1990s. His trial is scheduled for some time next year. He has also been suspended by Gymnastics Canada.
The trial of Michel Arsenault begins next year. He is facing four charges of assault
and three charges of sexual assault.
(Radio-Canada Sports)
The charges against Brubaker also came at time when the sport of gymnastics was already under intense scrutiny. The trial of former Michigan State University and USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar was in full swing, complete with harrowing abuse stories from more than 150 victims. Nassar eventually admitted to molesting some of the U.S.'s top gymnasts over many years and was sentenced to 175 years in prison for sexual assault and other charges.
Shewfelt doesn't mince his words when talking about the recent rash of arrests in gymnastics.
"The deviants are always going to have a plan," Shewfelt said. "Let's have zero tolerance. Let's have black-and-white policies."
Child sexual abuse cases skyrocket in Turkey since 2007
By SCF
The number of child sexual abuse cases that Turkish courts have adjudicated in the last 10 years has quadrupled, according to figures provided by the Justice Ministry, the Hürriyet Daily News reported.
A total of 3,718 child abuse cases were adjudicated in 2007 but ballooned to 16,041 in 2017, according to data presented by main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputy Aydın Özer. The total number for the 2007-2017 period was 153,139.
“It is wrong to view this increase as normal, to say, ‘Things like this occur in every part of the world, this is not only our problem.’ It is also wrong not to discuss solutions to children’s rights issues and to turn a blind eye to them,” Özer said.
“Children’s issues need to be prioritized within the justice system, and a children’s rights commission needs to be established in parliament. This is why when I entered parliament, the first bill I submitted was for the establishment of a permanent commission in the legislature to be called the Children’s Rights Monitoring Commission,” Özer said.
According to the data provided by the Justice Ministry, the number of child sexual assault cases heard by the courts over the last 10 years were:
3,718 in 2007,
4,261 in 2008,
6,415 in 2009,
10,900 in 2010,
14,066 in 2011,
17,457 in 2012,
19,754 in 2013,
22,865 in 2014,
21,175 in 2015,
16,487 in 2016 and
16,041 in 2017.
I like this man, Aydın Özer. He knows children have no voice and someone needs to speak up for them. God bless you sir.
I'm curious as to why the number of cases began to drop after 2014? Would anyone like to hazard a guess?
Police probing football child sex abuse cases investigate historic allegations in 30 other sports
The Mirror
EXCLUSIVE: Operation Hydrant is looking into cases including basketball, rugby, gymnastics, martial arts, tennis, wrestling, golf, sailing, athletics, cricket and swimming
Another 30 sports have been drawn into the nationwide investigation into historic allegations of sexual abuse.
Figures given to the Mirror by Operation Hydrant, the police inquiry into abuse in football, confirm a wide variety of different sports are now being probed.
Basketball, rugby, gymnastics, martial arts, tennis, wrestling, golf, sailing, athletics, cricket and swimming are now believed to be part of the inquiry.
Suspects have offended 'across force boundaries'.
But there is no evidence to date of an organised child sex ring or 'network of offenders operating together'.
It is 'impossible to predict how long the operation will continue' due to the huge number of victims involved.
But detectives have been encouraged by 'some notable conclusions', including the prosecution of Barry Bennell, jailed for 31 years. He may face further charges.
Swimming is one of the other sports being probed (file photo) (Image: Getty Images)
The latest figures show 99 per cent of suspects in football are men, and one per cent are female.
Overall in sport, three per cent of suspects are women, 93 per cent are men and four per cent are of unknown gender.
A spokeswoman for Operation Hydrant said: “The total number of other sports (minus football) reported into Operation Hydrant is 30. We know that individual suspects have offended across force boundaries. There is no evidence to date of an organised network of offenders operating together.”
She added: “By their very nature non-recent child sexual abuse investigations are complex. There have already been some notable conclusions to these cases, for example Barry Bennell, but others are ongoing. It is difficult to predict when they will all conclude.”
More football coaches and people connected with the sport have now been accused of molesting boys than the priests and brothers from the Boston archdiocese identified as part of the scandal unearthed by the Boston Globe's Spotlight team.
The total number of alleged suspects notified to Operation Hydrant since its inception in 2014 totalled 5301 as of June this year. It included 4719 men, 410 women and 172 'unknown', some identified by profession but not by name.
A total of 3739 alleged suspects remain subject to live investigations. A total of 278 alleged suspects are classified as Persons of Public Prominence (PPPs). They represent just five per cent of the total alleged suspects on Operation Hydrant’s database.
These include 90 from TV, film, or radio, 71 listed as politicians, including both national and local, 38 from the music industry, and 26 from the world of sport.
The total number of victims on the Operation Hydrant database is 6783, comprising 4930 males, and 1814 females.
The imbalance of men over women would be due to the emphasis on sports. Many sports are male-dominated if not exclusively male.
I've been saying for years now that there needs to be a formal inquiry in all countries into child sex abuse in all sports and in all organizations where children are gathered. This is a good start.
A decade of 'torment': Man jailed a 3rd time for harassing British Columbia woman
Bethany Lindsay · CBC News 
Darren Ross Noddle has been jailed for a third time for harassing a former grade school classmate. (Facebook)
Now, the Ontario man is in jail for the third time for tormenting her. Earlier this month, Noddle was sentenced to 226 days behind bars for criminal harassment of a Victoria woman he became fixated on after she broke off their brief friendship.
Noddle's most recent conviction concerns a series of packages he sent last winter that served to "torment and plague" their target, according to a B.C. Supreme Court judgment.
'What it does to your life': women's rights advocate releases video highlighting stalking
"The communications have instilled fear in [the victim]," Justice Sharon Matthews wrote in her decision to convict Noddle earlier this year.
"She said that she did not know when he might show up at her office or turn angry. This evidence demonstrates that she feels both physically and psychologically unsafe. Her evidence … shows how she has been psychologically worn down and has fear about her emotional wellbeing."
'He emailed her that all signs lead him to her'
The woman's terrified response underlines a long history of harassment that's laid out in the court decision.
The pair first met in grade school and reconnected in 2007, when they formed an emotional connection and began exchanging emails, the victim testified. Noddle was living in Ontario at the time.
She says there was nothing physical or sexual between them, but she had to cut off communication in the fall of 2008, when she started to feel uncomfortable after Noddle's emails took on a romantic edge.
Patrick Fox sentenced to nearly 4 years in prison for harassing ex-wife online
At first, he respected her wishes, but by 2011 he was emailing her again, and she gradually became more anxious about the content.
In October 2013, things escalated.
"He left a voicemail for her singing a song on her birthday. He sent her an email with sexual content describing multiple places he wanted to make love to her. He sent her an email saying that there are 31 steps to his house which was the same number as her birthday. He emailed her that all signs lead him to her," Matthews wrote.
By the end of the year, Noddle's target had had enough. She emailed Noddle to say he was scaring her, and if he didn't lay off, she would have to get other people involved.
And then, one Friday in December 2013, she checked her office voicemail from home. There was a message from Noddle — who she believed to be in Ontario — saying he was behind her office with flowers and wanted to take her out for dinner.
"He said that the angels were telling him to stay," the judge wrote.
Qualicum Beach, B.C., man faces 70 charges related to indecent, threatening phone calls
The woman called police. On the advice of officers, she, her partner, and their dog were all forced to flee their home and stay in a hotel until Noddle was arrested and charged with harassment.
He was convicted in October 2014 and sentenced to time served, but not before he showed up at her office a second time while he was out on bail awaiting trial.
Under the terms of his three-year probation order, Noddle was barred from contacting his target.
'He wished their souls had never met'
But the communications did not stop. One day in 2015, she received an envelope from Noddle that held only the link to a website. The URL was her name, and the website contained a letter signed by Noddle.
"He told her he had come to see her because he felt suicidal and that he wanted medical help. In the letter, he said he wished their souls had never met and that he wished they would never meet again," Matthews wrote.
In recent years, Noddle has sent several unwanted messages through the mail.
The contact didn't end there. In 2016, Noddle sent her a CD containing documents related to the lawsuit, breaching the terms of his probation. He was sent back to jail for that crime this spring.
'She needs them to stop'
And then last December, just one month after his probation ended, he began sending her strange packages. There were four in total, and the postmarks showed him moving closer and closer to B.C.
The contents, concerning the legal proceedings filed by Noddle, "were largely incomprehensible in content, but they were not benign," the judge said.
"She finds it alarming that he continues the contact despite that she has asked him to stop, the police have told him to stop, he was arrested and convicted, and there has been a probation order that prohibited contact with her," Matthews said.
"She is tired of these communications that have been ongoing for 10 years. She testified that she needs them to stop."
Under the terms of his latest sentence, Noddle will have to serve three years of probation after his release from jail, and he is once again prohibited from having any contact with the woman he targeted.
Why is there no requirement for him to get psyche counselling while in prison and on probation? His obsession is, according to his own lawsuit, a result of drugs. But were they prescription drugs, or did is psychosis begin with marijuana, perhaps much earlier?
Regardless, the woman is at risk and the courts have shown themselves to be pathetically weak at protecting women from psychotic men. We must do better than this.
Muslim preacher who runs Britain’s biggest network of sharia courts quizzed on suspicion of child rape
Sheikh Faiz-ul-Aqtab Siddiqi is being investigated over claims he raped two Dutch girls in the 1980s and 1990s by West Midlands Police
A MUSLIM cleric who runs the UK's biggest sharia courts network is being quizzed by cops over allegations of historic child rape.
He denies the claims, saying that they are "unfounded".
Sheikh Siddiqi is the head of Islamic legal service The Muslim Arbitration Tribunal, a sharia law organisation which critics claim is discriminatory against women.
The allegations against him claim that the victims were abused from the age of 11 and 12.
A West Midlands Police spokesman said: "A 51-year-old man from Nuneaton has been voluntarily interviewed in relation to allegations of historical rape cases."
Sheikh Siddiqi also owns a Devon holiday park, and runs an Islamic college in Warwickshire.
Why is there Sharia Law in the UK. Can there possibly be anything more incompatible with British Law than Sharia? Ah, the spectacular stupidity of political correctness!
Man, 86, avoids jail after pleading guilty to rape and repeated child sexual abuse over six decades ago
John Joe Kiernan, 86, repeatedly abused the brother and sister when they were aged between four and ten and raped the girl in her bedroom
By Declan Brennan, The Irish Sun
A FORMER farm labourer has received a suspended sentence after pleading guilty to the sexual abuse of two children over six decades ago.
Justice Michael White said that if Kiernan was a younger man the court would be imposed a serious custodial sentence but, given his age and ill health, he did not think it was appropriate to jail him.
Kiernan of Forthill, Arva, Co Cavan pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court to six sample counts of indecently assaulting one boy between 1958 and 1963 and five sample counts of indecently assaulting the boy’s younger sister between 1959 and 1963.
He also admitted raping this girl in her childhood bedroom on an unknown date between 1959 and 1964.
All the offending took place on or near the victims’ family farmland in Arva where Kiernan worked as a farm labourer.
Justice Michael White said that if Kiernan was a younger man the court would be imposed a serious custodial sentence.
He imposed sentences of eight years for the rape and five years and two years for the indecent assaults. He suspended all sentences in their entirety on condition that Kiernan keep the peace.
In his sentencing he noted that Kiernan, the father of two, has already served some time in prison for indecent assaults on three boys and one girl. This offending took place between 1963 and 1973.
While it may seem Kiernan got away with his frequent molesting of those two kids, he still has to stand before Jesus Christ before very long. Justice, tempered by grace, will inevitably occur.
At the sentencing hearing last week Mr Justice White praised the “unbelievable courage” of the victims for going to gardai in 2017.
Monica Lawlor BL, prosecuting, told the court that the two victims, who are now in their 60s, wished for Kiernan’s name to be published.
Detective Sgt Sharon Walsh told the court that Kiernan would regularly abuse the children. He would orally rape the boy on fishing trips and this victim told gardai: “I never remember being afraid. This was just normal life for me”.
Boy under 10 abused by 31y/o UK man
ChadOfficers who worked on a case where a Nottinghamshire man was sentenced to 27 months in prison for sexually abusing a boy under the age of ten have stressed the importance for adults to act on any signs of abuse.
The abuse was quickly reported to us by a family member who noticed a strange mark on the child’s neck and asked him what had happened. They immediately reported it to the police and Rigley was arrested.
Detective Constable Laura Clapham, from Nottinghamshire’s Child Abuse Unit, said: “We are pleased with the sentencing of a man who had denied any wrong-doing in his interview but changed his plea during the court process.
“The boy’s family have been incredibly strong and supportive throughout the investigation and I hope that they are able to move on and recover from this experience.
“We stress the importance of keeping an eye on young family members and report anything suspicious to us straight away, like the family in this case did, to save further abuse and harm.”
'Fantasist', 'Nick', whose claims of VIP child sex abuse sparked Scotland Yard's disastrous £2.5m inquiry, appears in court charged with 12 counts of perverting course of justice
A man who claimed he was the victim of a Westminster paedophile ring - sparking a £2.5million inquiry - has appeared in court charged with perverting the course of justice.
The 50-year-old 'fantasist' said he was raped and abused in the 1970s and 1980s by powerful men including former Prime Minister Sir Edward Heath.
He also claimed to have witnessed the murders of three young boys during sex games.
The man has appeared at Newcastle upon Tyne magistrates' court (pictured)
The defendant, only known as 'Nick', appeared at Newcastle upon Tyne magistrates' court yesterday.
Nick is charged with 12 counts of perverting the course of justice and one count of fraud.
He claims the alleged abuse took place when he was aged between seven and 16.
The fraud charge relates to him being awarded £22,000 compensation from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority.
The 50-year-old 'fantasist' said he was raped and abused in the 1970s and 1980s by powerful men including former Prime Minister Sir Edward Heath (pictured)
'He also said he witnessed the murders of three young children,' she said
Northumbria Police passed a file to the Crown Prosecution Service in September last year, which led to the charges being brought against Nick. He will appear against at Newcastle Crown Court on November 19.
Judge summing up evidence in Rotherham
child sex abuse trial
By David Parker 
The men are standing trial at Sheffield Crown Court accused of 27 counts of child sexual exploitation offences committed between 1998 and 2005.
The charges are part of Operation Stovewood, the National Crime Agency’s investigation into historic CSE in Rotherham.
The trial, which began on September 3, is now in its eighth week and jurors have heard the case for the prosecution and the defence.
Judge Sarah Wright began summing up the evidence after representatives of each of the eight men finished giving their closing speeches to the jury this morning. (Tuesday).
Yousaf (34), of Tooker Road, Rotherham, is accused of repeatedly raping and indecently assaulting the woman between May 2001 and May 2003, when she would have been 14 or 15.
Mr McGonigal said: “The allegation is that he had regular intercourse and oral sex with her. She says this was occuring almost on a daily basis for 18 months to two years. Threats were made if she didn’t comply.”
Mr McGonigal said the jury had to consider that allegation against the fact that the woman had not named Yousaf as an abuser in any of the files police had seized from youth project Risky Business.
Mr McGonigal said another woman, who accused Yousaf of raping her in Sherwood Forest when she was 14 or 15, had previously made false allegations about her stepfather because she wanted to get him out of the house.
He said Yousaf denied ever having sex with the woman but, if the jury rejected his account, they could not be sure that the woman wasn’t consenting at the time.
Yousaf is accused of repeatedly indecently assaulting a third girl, who was aged 14 or 15, between July 2001 and July 2003 by forcing her to perform a sexual act on him.
Mr McGonigal said Yousaf admitted having a relationship with her, but that was in 2004, when she would have been over 16.
Yousaf denies two counts of rape and two counts of indecent assault.
The trial continues.
Family of Chennai School CSA victim threatened and harrassed
Three months after the sexual abuse complaint was filed, the accused is out on bail, and the families which stood up to fight have allegedly been harassed and intimidated by the school.
Priyanka Thirumurthy, ToI
In July, over 200 anxious parents gathered at the Lalaji Memorial International school in Kolapakkam to question authorities about alleged sexual abuse of children travelling by a school bus. Amongst them were two families, whose boys were allegedly abused along with several others.
These two couples were the only ones ready to lodge a complaint with the police against a cleaner, who travelled on the bus with the survivors. Soon after the protests, 48-year-old Bhaskar was arrested by the police and it seemed like the nightmarish ordeal faced by the victims would end.
But now, three months later, Bhaskar been let out on bail. ToI first reported that the families which stood up to fight have allegedly been harassed and intimidated by the school. In a letter to the Tamil Nadu Director General of Police on September 20, one of the complainants, whose four-year-old child was sexually abused, alleges that school authorities were threatening the parents to withdraw complaints.
'My child was sexually abused'
According to reports, around 40-50 children took the school bus every day and the complainants claim with certainty that at least five of these children were sexually abused. The harassment allegedly began when the school term started in June.
Girija*, a complainant and mother of a 4-year-old boy who first revealed the abuse, explains that her child was psychologically affected by the entire episode.
"He used to be a bright and outgoing child and suddenly, he became very withdrawn. He wouldn't let any of us touch him and he was scared of everything.
Soon, when I started listening to the conversations of the children who went with him in the van, I realised they were discussing matters inappropriate for their age," she tells TNM. "They would say things like 'Lets lick each other' or 'Can I lift your skirt'. One day my son simply refused to go to school and kept crying. I asked him what happened multiple times, and he said that if he tells me, his father and I will get murdered," she adds.
For an entire night following this shocking statement, Girija tried to win her son’s confidence and understand what the matter was. But the traumatised four-year-old kept saying that his parents will die, his heart will burst or ghosts will come if he reveals the truth. It was only after she ensured him that none of this will happen and that he was safe, did the young child open up.
According to the FIR filed in the case on July 26, "The child said that the cleaner showed him a large worm like object (penis) and told him it was magical and that it could become big and small. He asked the child to touch it but the child claims he was disgusted."
When Girija went to another parent in the same apartment whose child travelled in the bus, she discovered that the matter was more serious than she had realised. The other child's description revealed that the cleaner was attempting penetrative sexual assault on children.
The complainant suspects that at least four members of the school staff, including the cleaner were involved in this sexual abuse of children.
"The two children told us that they were taken to secluded spots in the school and stripped. Young girls and boys were then made to lie on each other and do sexual things," says Girija. "Whenever these small children said they will tell their parents, the culprits used to lift them by their hair and threaten to murder their family. My son has been kicked and beaten up several times," she adds, her voice breaking.
But when the parents shared their findings with the school, they were allegedly stone-walled by authorities.
Parents intimidated
"It is the duty of the institution to protect the child," says advocate V Kannadasan, counsel for the complainants. "In fact, from the time the child steps into the school bus to the time he is dropped back, he is considered the responsibility of the school. What more, according to the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, it is the school that should have filed the complaint. But instead, they have taken to harassing the parents," he adds.
The lawyer alleges that the school has done everything it can to quash this case.
"A multi-pronged approach has been adopted to unsettle the parents. Rowdy elements, intimidation, hospital authorities, and even the police are all being used as tools in a larger game being played out by the institution," he explains. "They are clearly trying to avoid a conviction because the reputation of the school will take a hit. They have branches across 140 countries," he adds.
In the complainant's letter to the DGP, it is clearly stated that threats were issued to other parents who were ready to support their allegations.
"I submit that initially a parent teacher association meeting was not permitted in the school premises by the school authorities. On behalf of the school authorities, one Senthilnathan conducted a meeting at a park in Kolapakkam on September 29 and there we were threatened by him and other rowdy elements," reads the letter.
In addition to this, on August 8, even as the victims were giving their statements to a judicial magistrate, the school allegedly called for a meeting of other parents without the knowledge of these two affected families.
"In our absence, another PTA meeting was held at the school premises and parents were threatened by the school authorities and the above said rowdy elements. It was informed to us by other parents," the complainant alleges.
Medical assessment
The Kilpauk Medical College doctor who examined the two children first claimed that there were no signs of sexual assault and stated that the case was false. Following this, Girija demanded a re-examination. The children were admitted on August 1.
"These children were so scared and for no reason they were taken in an ambulance to the children's hospital in Egmore. Then they were kept there for three days with very ill children and frightened further," she says. "My son is so scared that he doesn't even let me give him a bath. He is frightened when I, his own mother, touches him. And without even understanding all this trauma, the doctors made these children undress over and over again. There was no sensitivity shown," she says, her voice breaking.
This is unforgivable! India, you have such a long way to go if you are ever going to stop destroying your own children.
The parents and their counsel are yet to receive the results of the second examination.
Police investigation
The parents claim that even the police is on the side of the alleged culprits.
"The investigating officials in the case are unnecessarily harassing us by showing the children at least 40 to 50 photos and confusing them by telling them that they would have seen sexual activities of their parents and told imaginary stories," reads the complainant's letter to the DGP.
School authorities have refused to comment on the matter. But TNM spoke to the investigating official in the case and she states that chargesheet in the case was filed last week.
"And in between all this they allowed the cleaner to be let out on bail," points out advocate Kannadasan. "I was keenly following up to ensure that this doesn't happen. But they purposely hid all details from me and then later claimed that even they were unaware that he was let out," he adds.
The complainants now fear that the cleaner would go warn others involved in the case and destroy relevant evidence.
Facing social isolation
In addition to the burden of fighting the school administration, the parents have also had to fight a social battle.
"Everyone in our apartment has stopped talking to us and they don't let their children play with mine," says Girija. The landlord too has asked them to move out of their residence. "I thought this fight that I took will ensure no other child will be harassed. But I wonder, have I let my own child be further harassed to save others?"
And, it would appear, that others don't necessarily want their children to be saved. I have so little hope that India will ever succeed in any significant improvement in saving children from paedophiles. They just don't have the will. Please pray for the children of India.
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