'Masters of cover-up': Witness says St John of God tried to shut victims down when abuse allegations emerged
Monday, 14 February 2022
When brothers from the Brothers Hospitallers of St John of God were accused of sexually and physically abusing multiple boys at the Marylands School in Christchurch for decades, the order’s response was to “shut the victims down” and “quell the storm” that ensued.
This was the testimony of Dr Michelle Mulvihill, a former nun turned clinical psychologist who worked for the St John of God brothers from 1998 to 2007 to help the order respond to sexual abuse claims.
Mulvihill testified via video-link before the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care on Monday.
Her testimony centred on the “organisational denial” within the St John of God order, not just a denial of the abuse claims, but also a denial of the effects the abuse had on victims and the order’s moral obligation to fix it.
Mulvilhill said this organisational denial was present in most Catholic institutions she has dealt with.
**READ MORE:
* 'This is my justice': Witness tells inquiry about multiple rapes at Christchurch school
* Abuse in care: Survivor says abuser showed him corpse to silence him
**
Mulvilhill, who is based in Australia, first became involved with the St John of God order in 1998 when Brother Terence Tehan approached her to help him develop a response to allegations that brothers in Melbourne had abused several children.
Mulvilhill went on to assist Brother Peter Burke to meet with complainants in New Zealand with the view of devising “a more transparent approach” for victims seeking redress.
She told the inquiry she wanted to follow a process where the needs of the victim were at the centre rather than the interests of the church.
This would include meeting victims face to face as many times as they wished, urging them to go to police, paying for independent counselling and addressing the immediate needs of victims such as access to medical care, accommodation, and transport.
Every victim would also receive an apology and a sum of money, along with a pledge that their needs would be catered for in the long-term.
But this is not what happened, said Mulvihill. “The conversation about victims was that they were liars, they were stupid, they didn’t have a clue,” she said.
This process was a bone of contention between Burke and the majority of the other brothers. Many complained that the process was unfair to them and that the victims’ credibility was questionable.
The order paid for a lawyer to defend the brothers who were identified as alleged perpetrators at Marylands, including some who have since been found guilty and jailed for their crimes.
The New Zealand police ended up investigating brothers Bernard McGrath, Roger Maloney and Raymond Garchow. McGrath, now 74, who remains imprisoned in New South Wales and has been sentenced to a total of 61 years’ jail across five trials in two countries. Maloney, now deceased, was sentenced to 35 months’ jail for offending against five children; Garchow was deemed unfit to stand trial.
Two other brothers, including William John Lebler, escaped extradition from Australia due to their frail health. St John of God spent AU$1 million in lawyers’ fees to prevent the extradition, said Mulvihill.
‘Brothers’ business’
Mulvihill said any time penetrating questions were asked, such as how it was possible that brothers could be living together but not know about multiple incidents of abuse happening right under their noses, those questions would be shut down as being “brothers’ business”.
“‘Brothers’ business’ were the things [they] did not want you to know… Information that was critical to be able to deal with the [allegations]. That is called systemic abuse.”
Burke and Mulvihill met with numerous victims who shared horrific recounts of sexual abuse and being “savagely beaten” and publicly humiliated. Burke expressed his deepest regret to the victims, apologised to them and assisted with immediate needs such as buying them clothing or paying for haircuts, shoes and food.
Every time after a payment was made, the victim would be promised an enduring relationship with the order. This never happened, said Mulvihill.
She said most victims were eventually paid an average of $75,000 which she described as “an amazingly small amount of money”.
Meanwhile, Burke was berated by other brothers for believing the victims and not “sticking up for the brothers enough”.
On one occasion, a Christchurch man approached them alleging he was abused at Marylands and his complaint was taken in good faith. The man was eventually paid about $20,000 based on the information he had given, but it was later revealed that he had lied. He was charged, convicted and jailed.
“This gave lawyers defending the brothers enormous leverage. They used this opportunity to show how ‘faulty’ the process was,” said Mulvihill.
“Many of the brothers were delighted that a false allegation had been proved. This added to the intense in-fighting and conflict within the order between known perpetrators and Brother Burke.”
Many of the victims were affiliated with the Male Survivors of Sexual Abuse Trust, a support group chaired by Ken Clearwater. Some of these victims had contacted Clearwater and had made complaints through him.
Mulvihill said the order “detested” Clearwater and saw him as a “nuisance” who was trying to influence the victims. “Ken Clearwater and what he was ‘up to’ was discussed broadly at Professional Standards Committee meetings,” she said.
During his testimony, Clearwater told the inquiry about an incident during the early 2000s when he was visited by a man who told him about the abuse he had suffered as a child at Marylands. The man was “off his face” on methylated spirits when he visited Clearwater at his office.
Clearwater said he called “Brother Timothy” on the man's behalf. He did not specify whether this was Brother Timothy Graham who is responsible for responding to reports of abuse.
He told him he had a man in his office who claimed to have suffered sexual abuse at Marylands. The brother responded saying, “After the money, is he?”, said Clearwater.
He said the man heard what Brother Timothy said and completely broke down saying “they never f…… believe me”. The man then attempted to take his own life right in front of Clearwater.
Clearwater said he cradled the man in his arms, telling him it was going to be okay as he sobbed and kept repeating that he was never going to be believed.
Clearwater was horrified at Brother Timothy’s reaction. “It was just offensive the way I was spoken to. If it was a survivor that was spoken to that way, it is more than offensive, it is just absolutely criminal.”
Mulvihill described the St John of God order as “masters of cover-up”.
She told the Royal Commission that “the second injury” of dismissing victims when they finally came forward to tell their stories was likely even more damaging than the original abuse they had suffered.