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Loves the "Funny" Button
Part One

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A notorious paedophile priest abused every boy at a regional Victorian school between the age of 10 and 16, the child sex abuse inquiry has heard.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse is holding long-awaited public hearings in Ballarat to examine historical abuse suffered by children at a number of schools in the regional centre, at the hands of Catholic clergy and other members of the Church.

Some of Australia's most notorious abusers, including Gerald Ridsdale, Robert Best and Edward Dowlan, were part of a paedophile ring operating in and around Ballarat for years.

In her opening address, Senior Counsel Assisting the Commission, Gail Furness SC, outlined the extent of Ridsdale's offending.

She said the inquiry would hear evidence of Ridsdale's time at the Mortlake parish during the early 1980s, including comments from the priest who took over from Ridsdale.

"Father Dennehy told the Catholic Church's insurance investigator that he thought every male child between the ages of 10 years and 16 years, who were at the school, had been molested by Ridsdale," she said.

Ms Furness said Ridsdale was a "prolific offender" during his time at Mortlake.

"There will be evidence that his behaviour around boys was no secret," she said.

She also told the inquiry Cardinal George Pell - who later became Archbishop of Sydney and now oversees the Vatican's finances - was one of seven present at a meeting in September 1982 where Bishop Ronald Mulkearns discussed the need to remove Ridsdale from the school.

She said under the heading of "staff" the notes from that meeting read:

The Bishop advised that it had become necessary for Father Gerald Risdale to move from the Parish of Mortlake.

Negotiations are under way to have him work with the Catholic Enquiry Centre in Sydney.

A new appointment to Mortlake will be necessary to take effect after October 17th.

The minutes did not disclose whether the Bishop said why the move was necessary, she told the inquiry.

"However ... it is expected that there will be evidence that Bishop Mulkearns knew it was because Risdale had abused boys in Mortlake and that he had offended in this manner in 1975," she said.

All male teachers at St Alipius PS were molesting
Ballarat was one of the most horrific sites of abuse and it was revealed that in 1971, all male teachers and the chaplain at the St Alipius primary school were molesting children.

PHOTO: It was revealed that in 1971 all male teachers and the chaplain at the St Alipius primary school were molesting children. (Supplied: Catholic Church)


Ms Furness said the royal commission would also hear from a survivor who had a photograph of his grade four class at St Alipius in the 1970s.

She said he would tell the hearing, of the 33 boys pictured, 12 had committed suicide.

In his opening address, inquiry chairman Justice Peter McClellan urged those attending the hearing to remember the victims and survivors.

"The evidence in the first stage of this hearing will include the personal stories of a number of survivors," Justice McClellan said.

"That evidence will describe the gross violations of individuals by ordained members of the Catholic Church.

"As you are aware, the royal commission has revealed many shocking stories of the betrayal of children.

"As we listen to the evidence in this hearing, we should all reflect on the impact for those who have suffered in the Ballarat region, and the thousands of others who have suffered throughout Australia."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-05-19/child-abuse-inquiry-begins-ballarat-hearings/6479902
 
Part Two
Ridsdale to give evidence to inquiry via video link from prison
Justice McClellan said the inquiry would also hear from perpetrators but not directly about the circumstances of their offending.

"That has already been dealt with by the courts," Justice McClellan said of Ridsdale's crimes.

"However, the evidence has an important part to play in the royal commission coming to understand both the way ordained members of the Catholic Church became abusers and how the Church responded to allegations of their abuse."

Ridsdale is serving an eight-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to 30 child sex offences in 2014.

It is the fourth time he has been jailed after three previous stints in prison for more than 100 other offences.

He will give evidence, possibly next week, via video link from prison.

The hearing will also consider why Ridsdale was able to move around to so many locations in Victoria, without being reported to police.

He offended and re-offended in Horsham, Inglewood, Camperdown, Ballarat North, Mildura, Swan Hill, Warrnambool, Ballarat East, Apollo Bay, Edenhope, Melbourne and Mortlake.

"I appreciate that the evidence of perpetrators may be confronting for some people, in particular survivors," Justice McClellan said.

"However, without the evidence of perpetrators the true story of the response of the Church in Ballarat may never be completely revealed.

"I am aware that there may be different and strongly held views about the conduct of ordained people and the appropriateness of the response of leaders in the Church in the Ballarat Diocese.

"Many want this hearing. There are others who doubt the need for a public hearing. Some may not want the story told.

"Unless the truth is revealed and known publicly then [the] prospect of effective healing for survivors and institutions is diminished."

Support on hand as inquiry prepares for gruelling three weeks
Today's hearing was packed with survivors and their supporters and a spill-over court was set up in an adjacent building to cope with demand.

Justice McClellan said support would be on hand for survivors as the hearing progressed.

The Catholic Church also warned of a gruelling few weeks of evidence.

Bishop of Ballarat Paul Bird released a statement urging people across the region to support one another throughout the hearing.

Child abuse survivors share stories

Ballarat child abuse victims share their horrific accounts from the sex abuse "hotspot" and call for recognition, justice and a national scheme to support survivors.


He will also give evidence, as will Brother Peter Clinch, the Province Leader of the Christian Brothers Oceania Province.

Former Bishop Ronald Mulkearns, who is accused of moving perpetrators and destroying documents to avoid detection, is not on the witness list.

He did not appear before the Victorian parliamentary inquiry into child sex abuse, citing ill health.

Ms Furness said 17 abuse victims would give evidence and the commission would also hear from a psychiatrist about the post-traumatic effects of child abuse on survivors.

Some victims will give evidence anonymously, under a pseudonym.

"Many witnesses are expected to say that they were reluctant to disclose their abuse to anyone," Ms Furness said.

"They are expected to give reasons such as feelings of shame, guilt, disgust, fear of punishment, fear of judgment and a belief that they would be disbelieved."

Perpetrators must be called to account, victims say
Abuse victim Patrick Nagle, 50, of Ballarat, was abused at St Alipius and said testifying before the commission was "extremely difficult".

"We've known this has been coming for about three months and I haven't slept [the] last couple of nights," he said.

"You've got to prepare yourself for it.

"[It was] very, very tough indeed, but[I'm] glad it's over [I'm]going to go and have a beer now."

Andrew Collins, 46, of Mount Helen, was abused by four different men at Ballarat schools and churches during his teenage years.

He said it was important that those who moved these men around and did not report the abuse to police were brought to justice.

"It's not just the perpetrators, it's the hierarchy that facilitated those abusers to cause so much more hurt, pain and suffering," he said.

Mr Collins said the number of victims who had committed suicide was "horrendous".

"There's been over 40 confirmed suicides where suicide notes have been linked to the abuses, but we're aware of many other victims who have taken their own lives," he said.

"We've had 10 [suicides] in the last 12 months and it is just painful and horrendous to open up the newspaper and see that somebody you know, you know was abused, hasn't told their family, has taken their own life."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-05-19/child-abuse-inquiry-begins-ballarat-hearings/6479902
 
Related Article
"Ballarat Sexual Abuse Victims to Tell Royal Commission Suicide Rate is 'Higher Than Road Toll'"

Survivors of sexual abuse by some members of the Catholic clergy in Ballarat say the region's suicide rate is "through the roof", in part because of the area's toxic legacy of child molestation.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Child Sexual Abuse will move to the regional Victorian city for hearings today.

Ballarat was one of the most horrific sites of abuse and it was revealed that in 1971 all the male teachers and the chaplain at the St Alipius primary school were molesting children.

One of Australia's most notorious paedophiles, Father Gerald Ridsdale, will give live evidence to the commission via video link from prison, where he is serving an eight-year sentence for the rape and abuse of children, some of them as young as four.

Peter Blenkiron is one of the prominent campaigners for justice and redress for victims of abuse by the Catholic Church clergy.

Ballarat has got this hidden trauma and landscape of death about it. I believe the suicide rate is higher than the road toll.
Peter Blenkiron

He said suicide was an epidemic in the Ballarat region.

"The suicide rate in Ballarat is through the roof, not just from clergy abuse but because it's socially acceptable to take your own life if you get to a tough spot in life," he said.

"Most people I know know at least half a dozen people who have committed suicide, let alone the premature deaths where people have drunk themselves to death.

"It is not a ripple effect, it's an atomic bomb that's gone off in Ballarat.

"Ballarat has got this hidden trauma and landscape of death about it. I believe the suicide rate is higher than the road toll and we don't hear about it. We have to stop that."

The ABC's Lateline was granted access to a Ballarat support group for victims of sexual and physical abuse.

While not all were victims of abuse by Catholic clergy, most of the middle-aged men there were.

One member of the group, named Tim, said knowing he was not alone in his experiences saved his life.

"If this group wasn't here I'd be out on my lonesome again and probably would be contemplating suicide again — and it's not a good place to be," he said.

Tim returned to Ballarat six years ago and was shocked at the effect the abuse had on the community.

"I'm not a real sociable person but I've got five friends who are no longer with us and know another three people who have been abused," he said.

Group manager Shireen Gunn believes the royal commission hearings will prompt more people to come out and speak about their abuse for the first time.

"Some of them have come to the group at a time when they're feeling really desperate and just by chance they've come across one of our pamphlets and they've taken a chance," she said.

"[They] come along feeling very anxious, but as soon as they walk in and see these other men who've been through a similar experience and after thinking they were the only ones, being able to make the links has saved a lot of lives."

If this group wasn't here I'd be out on my lonesome again and probably would be contemplating suicide again and it's not good place to be.

Tim, abuse victim

Last month the Federal Government declined to commit to a national single redress scheme for victims of abuse, saying it would be too costly and involve significant time and resources.

The royal commission had estimated such a scheme would cost more than $4 billion and have at least 65,000 people claiming.

The Government's decision angered Ballarat abuse victim Andrew Collins.

"If there were a whole heap of senior Government workers that are taking their own lives, there would be instant action," he said.

"They wouldn't have to stand up and fight for recognition. They wouldn't have to stand up and fight — it would just happen.

"Here we are standing up and fighting and what are our lives worth?

"The longer the Government waits to put forward some sort of redress scheme, more lives will be lost. It sends the message out that our lives aren't worth anything."

Another member of the men's group, Dan, agreed.

"I don't understand where the Government's coming from because denial is just unbelievable," he said.

"I've come out three-and-a-half years ago with my abuse... this battle has been ongoing for many, many years."

But survivors like Mr Blenkiron cling to the hope the Government will change its mind and things will turn a corner in Ballarat.

"There is a lot of dark and a lot of horrific stuff that is making people still kill themselves," he said.

"We're at the ashes, and the phoenix has to rise from the ashes. Otherwise it's all just a waste of time and a waste of breath."


http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-05-...d-abuse-to-start-hearings-in-ballarat/6477132
 
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"It's not just the perpetrators, it's the hierarchy that facilitated those abusers to cause so much more hurt, pain and suffering," he said.

Mr Collins said the number of victims who had committed suicide was "horrendous".

"There's been over 40 confirmed suicides where suicide notes have been linked to the abuses, but we're aware of many other victims who have taken their own lives," he said.

"We've had 10 [suicides] in the last 12 months and it is just painful and horrendous to open up the newspaper and see that somebody you know, you know was abused, hasn't told their family, has taken their own life."

Same here. I know it's on a different level and scale, but these cases they're investigating now remind me so much of the "The White House Boys" and the Dosier School case in Florida. :(
 
This is horrible :( it's like these children were nothing but a buffet for these freaks to feed their compulsion .
 
Stories & Photos From Some of the Boys, Now Men Who Survived

Part One
Five victims call for recognition, justice and a national scheme to support survivors.

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Instead of this Government doing the right thing, they have re-traumatised victims and survivors. - Anonymous sexual abuse survivor

As the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse begins its first public hearings in Ballarat, five victims have called for recognition, justice and a national scheme to support survivors.

During the 1960s and 1970s, a notorious paedophile ring preyed on children in the regional Victorian city of Ballarat.

Catholic priest Gerald Ridsdale, Brother Robert Best, Brother Ted Dowlan and Brother Stephen Frances Farrell were among the convicted paedophiles who operated in the area.

Beginning on Tuesday, May 19 and continuing for the next three weeks, the royal commission will hear evidence from survivors of abuse at Catholic Church institutions in Ballarat.

They will hear evidence from students, parents and other witnesses, as well as the response of five Catholic institutions to clergy abuse.

Many of the victims hope to achieve a sense of justice, but they are also calling for reform, and these five men insist the Government must act now.

To speak to someone about sexual abuse, contact the Victorian Centre Against Sexual Assault on 1800 806 292, or if you or someone you know is thinking about suicide, call Lifeline on 13 11 14.


Peter Blenkiron, 52, Ballarat
Peter Blenkiron was abused by a Christian Brother when he was 11 years old.

A student at St Patrick's Secondary School in Ballarat, he said convicted paedophile Edward Dowlan would set difficult homework and then punish him for not being able to complete it.

Dowlan made the students look the other way while he punished them with physical abuse, before comforting and then sexually abusing them.

"The worst stuff happened when I hadn't finished my homework, I was made to go back to his room," he said.

"When I reflect back on it, it makes me want to throw up, it makes me feel very damaged."

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I lost everything, I lost my business, I lost relationships that were important to me, I lost property. I battled the suicide option for 12 years. I'm a broken man.- Peter Blenkiron

Mr Blenkiron said that although in earlier adulthood he was a high achiever, the trauma was a "ticking time-bomb".

He said he had seen other victims struggling with severe depression and suicide.

"I lost everything: I lost my business, I lost relationships that were important to me, I lost property. I battled the suicide option for 12 years. I'm a broken man," he said.

Victims have long had hope for the introduction of a support scheme, a model similar to TAC or Work Cover, which would provide support for things like housing, medical expenses and counselling.

That idea has been backed by churches, charities and victim support groups.

Cardinal George Pell previously vowed that the Catholic Church would review its compensation payments, even if it cost hundreds of millions of dollars.

But in March, the Federal Government made a submission to the royal commission rejecting a national support scheme because of the time and resources it would require, an announcement that devastated Mr Blenkiron.

"Obviously the relationship between Pell and (Prime Minister Tony) Abbott is more important than sorting out the damage that was caused by child rape from members of the clergy, that was known about all those years by the hierarchy of the church," he said.

"I believe that the people that could make those decisions believe it's easier to do nothing and let the problems die away.

"Hitler used the gas chamber; this Government is using time to just let people die.

"The blood is on their hands."

Stephen Woods, 53, Melbourne
Stephen Woods said he was abused by three different men under the Catholic auspice while growing up in Ballarat.

Two of his older brothers were also sexually abused.

He said his first abuser was Robert Charles Best, the principal of St Alipius Primary School.

"I was 11 years old, and I was down the back in the classroom sitting on the art table and he came up and sat next to me and started putting his hand down the back of my pants," he said.

"He saw me withdraw and he started to become very violent."

Mr Woods said the sexual abuse was coupled with verbal abuse.

"He would get me to slowly strip for him while he would masturbate behind his desk. And all the while he would tell me that it was my fault, that I was bad, that I was evil," he said.

"He would then put me over his knee and then he would have a good feel of my ass and then smack me."

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I didn't want to have my idea that it was my fault, because it wasn't - it was not my fault.- Stephen Woods

Robert Best was found not guilty by a court of sexually assaulting Mr Woods.

However, he has since been found guilty of crimes against more than 10 other boys and is currently serving jail time.

Mr Woods said he believed he did not receive justice through the legal system but hoped the royal commission would give him the recognition he deserved.

His next abuser was Brother Ted Dowlan, his religious teacher.

"He would feel your penis and testicles through your pants," Mr Woods said.

"He kept saying my family couldn't make it and they were awful, so he would really be quite vicious in putting me down while molesting me."



In his teens, as he begun to develop issues with sex and his sexuality, Mr Woods went to see a priest.

It was here that his third abuser, Gerald Ridsdale, preyed on him.

"He started asking me a whole lot of questions, and more and more personal and graphic details about sex and what I was doing," he said.

Mr Woods said Ridsdale then began molesting himand forced him to perform a sex act.

"Then he drove me around Lake Wendouree to a toilet block where he dragged me inside, where he raped me," Mr Woods said.

Both Dowlan and Ridsdale were convicted of sexually abusing Mr Woods and are currently serving time in prison.

Since going public about his abuse in 1995, Mr Woods has become a voice for other survivors of child sex abuse who want to share the severe impacts it has had on their lives.

"I didn't want to have my idea that it was my fault, because it wasn't - it was not my fault," he said.

"I have had a very disjointed job history, I struggled a lot at school, I only passed year nine and it was years and years later that I forced myself through university.

"I even became a teacher, but my anger started coming out more and started coming out in the classroom. So I had to retire."
 
Part Two
Philip Nagle, 50, Ballarat
Philip Nagle grew up on a family farm near Ballan. He moved from the local Catholic school to St Alipius in Ballarat in 1973.

"I was sexually abused by Stephen Frances Farrell, a Christian Brother, in 1974," Mr Nagel said.

"Everything from then on is blanked out - I have no recollections of grade six, only recollections of the sexual assaults and being scared all the time."

Mr Nagle said he was assaulted on the school campus and during camps.

The first assault was the most vivid in his memory.

"I was taken to the first aid bay by Farrell," he said.

"He wrestled me to the ground, and he took my pants off."

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The court case was an absolutely horrible thing. He had three or four hours of witnesses coming up saying what a good bloke he was. - Philip Nagle


Aged just nine, Mr Nagle said he did not realise he was being sexually assaulted at the time, only that he did not want it to happen again.

"He was holding me down and doing something, he lifted up his black gown," he said.

"When he got up and left, then I realised I was all wet between my legs and genitals, I came to find out later that he had ejaculated on me."

Like many of the victims, Mr Nagle said manipulation and childhood innocence meant it was not until later in life that he realised the severity of the crime, or the scope of abuse going on around him.

"I was obviously very glad and relieved when Brother Stephen Farrell took another boy out of the classroom instead of me," he said.

"We didn't actually know what was happening to us, but certainly when you look back now, you just think: how can so many evil Christian Brother paedophiles be in one place at the same time?

"All the baddies were there at once."


I wish I could press the reset button and start it all over again.

Philip Nagle


Farrell was convicted of nine counts of assault in 1997 for the abuse of Mr Nagle and his brother, but Mr Nagle said he felt the courts did not give them any sense of justice.

"The court case was an absolutely horrible thing," he said.

"He had three or four hours of witnesses coming up saying what a good bloke he was."

Farrell was given a suspended sentence, with no jail time.

"There is no justice in that for the crimes that he committed, they were evil, they were violent, they were totally inappropriate for a man of God to be committing on students in his care," he said.

"The courts have got it wrong."

Like the four other abuse survivors, Mr Nagle has battled with relationship breakdowns and psychological trauma.

"I've had three marriages, three divorces, I'm a hard ass, I've got no friends," he said.

"I wish I could press the reset button and start it all over again."

Andrew Collins, 46, Mount Helen
Between the age of 11 and his teenage years, Andrew Collins said he was abused by four different men at Ballarat schools and churches.

"They were all sexual abuses involving anal rape, digital rape, fondling, harassment," he said.

As he got older, he began to realise that what he had endured was wrong.

But when he began speaking out, he was not believed.

"Unfortunately when I did start telling people I realised that children don't have a voice," he said.

"A priest is a powerful member of the community and some people just place them up on such a huge pedestal and it's very hard for people to believe that religious people could actually do that sort of stuff."

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The fear, that's the stuff that still comes back in nightmares, that's the stuff that haunts you. - Andrew Collins


Mr Collins said when he thought about his school years, he felt like a terrified child again.

"The fear, that's the stuff that still comes back in nightmares, that's the stuff that haunts you."

Mr Collins said two of his abusers died before he was able to seek to bring them to justice.

Unnamed, 58
One man, who did not want to be identified, said he had only recently started to get his life back on track after speaking out about abuse he encountered in the 1960s.

"It's put me in a spiral of substance abuse, not knowing who I was or where I was going, not focus on life," he said.

The 58-year-old said he hoped the royal commission would empower other survivors to talk about their abuse.

He also called for justice and reform.

"Justice for what they've done to me and not only for me - it's impacted on my children, my wife and everyone that's ever been involved in me," he said.

"Instead of this government doing the right thing, they have re-traumatised victims and survivors; this government is trying to abandon us and tell us to go back to a legal system that has totally failed us."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-05-...ssion-ballarat-victims-share-accounts/6477564
 
Child abuse sucks every time...but the stories about boys really fuck me up. I don't know that this is exactly true...I know girls go through their shit...But I think its harder for men.
 
It's really sad that this went on for so long with so many lives and families affected. It seems it was common knowledge amongst pedophile rings...that the way to find victims and get away with your sins... was to become a priest o r teacher for one.
 
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