Monks 'cruel' to child sexual abuse victims - review

Victims of kid intersexual maltreatment were treated successful a heartless, hostile and cruel mode by monks connected a distant island, a safeguarding reappraisal has found.

One subsister says the mode she has been treated since her clip connected Caldey Island has made the effects of the maltreatment "a cardinal times worse".

The reappraisal said predominant allegations of maltreatment had been made but not followed up connected oregon reported to police, and the deficiency of situation had enabled a monk to maltreatment children implicit 4 decades "in plain sight".

Caldey Abbey commissioned the report, and its caller abbot apologised for the symptom and suffering caused.

Rebecca lived connected Caldey Island, disconnected the seashore of Tenby successful Pembrokeshire, for the archetypal 5 and a fractional years of her life.

The land and each the spot connected it are owned by a radical of Cistercian monks and tens of thousands of tourists sojourn each year.

As good arsenic the monks, determination are laic radical who unrecorded and enactment there.

Between the precocious 1960s until 1992, a nonmigratory monk, Father Thaddeus Kotik, sexually abused children who lived and visited the island, a reappraisal said.

Rebecca is 1 of 16 survivors who person shared their stories with advisor societal idiosyncratic Jan Pickles, who was commissioned by the abbey to constitute the review.

Kotik would groom Rebecca and different children with the committedness of sweets, cocoa and different gifts.

He would past maltreatment them.

"I tried to get away, but I couldn’t," Rebecca said.

"His hands were truly unsmooth and helium was holding maine excessively tightly. It hurt."

The maltreatment continued passim her clip connected Caldey and the effects person lasted a lifetime, Rebecca said.

As a teenager, she had feelings of self-hatred and worthlessness, and could not marque friends.

Her feelings led her to self-harm and adjacent respective termination attempts.

"I don't cognize however I survived, it was terrible," she said.

As an big it has affected her quality to enactment and spot people.

Had it not been for her husband, she said, she "probably wouldn’t beryllium here".

Rebecca was 1 of six women to person a "meagre" magnitude of compensation from the abbey successful a civilian assertion successful 2017, but it came without an apology.

She said it had felt similar "hush money".

"The galore cover-ups implicit the years person made the effects of the maltreatment a cardinal times worse," Rebecca added.

"I felt re-victimised implicit and implicit again by the mode we were each treated.

"You spell backmost to feeling [like] that unfortunate erstwhile you were a young child, helpless."

Report writer Jan Pickles said the abbey had responded successful a "heartless way" to victims who were "very susceptible and precise damaged" by what had happened "at the hands of a monk, portion of its community".

Rebecca said the reappraisal had "done justness to her truth" and the abbot's apology was amended than thing but had travel excessively late.

She said: "Learning that the maltreatment went backmost arsenic acold arsenic the 1960s makes maine consciousness adjacent much aggravated and upset, due to the fact that however galore times could they person done thing astir it?

"I don’t deliberation they’re men of God.

"They ne'er person been, they don’t reply to anyone. It’s hypocrisy successful the worst way. They’re surviving a lie."

The reappraisal outlined respective missed opportunities, and said determination appeared to person been a nonaccomplishment of enactment astatine the highest level.

It said repeated and predominant allegations of intersexual maltreatment against Kotik had not been reported to the authorities arsenic the instrumentality of that clip required.

In addition, the reappraisal said the "unnecessary adversarial response" had further damaged victims and their families.

"This strategy has led the abbey’s attack to beryllium seen arsenic hostile and cruel," it said.

Two of the 3 solicitors representing victims described responses from the abbey and their ineligible squad arsenic "the astir hostile" they had ever received from immoderate organisation.

One of the survivors was adjacent threatened with ineligible enactment and different described arsenic a "fantasist", the reappraisal found.

The reappraisal said different enactment offenders had spent clip connected Caldey, including Paul Ashton, who lived determination for 7 years utilizing an alias portion connected the tally from police.

He had unrestricted entree to the IT strategy and utilized it to download indecent images of children.

A visitant who discovered his existent individuality informed constabulary and helium was aboriginal jailed.

The visitant believed helium had been operating a kid pornography organisation web from the island, masquerading arsenic a cleaning company.

The reappraisal besides described the inconsistent arrangements astir tenancies and employment connected the island.

It said tenancies for the homes, owned by the abbey, were awarded and withdrawn "for reasons unknown".

The unstable conditions, unaccountable decisions and deficiency of ceremonial rights "contributed to a dependence connected the abbey’s goodwill", it said.

That meant radical surviving determination mightiness person been reluctant to bash thing that mightiness hazard them losing their homes oregon jobs.

Father Jan Rossey, who took connected the relation of abbot past year, said safeguarding was present his precedence and helium had enactment measures successful spot to guarantee the close effect to immoderate allegations would beryllium followed.

"I springiness my sincere apologies," helium said.

"I’m precise atrocious for each the suffering but besides afterwards, for [victims] not being listened to.

"It’s heart-breaking to work those stories."

The study made 12 recommendations which helium said would beryllium implemented successful full.

Father Jan said improvements had already been made, including safeguarding grooming for each connected the land arsenic good arsenic mandatory DBS checks.