Lester says abuse should not be forgotten, even if it is non-recent
All names and identifying details have been changed.
Participants have given us permission to share their experiences.
At a school for ‘delinquent’ boys, Lester was physically and sexually abused by Catholic Brothers.
When he reported the abuse, he did not feel he was taken seriously because it had happened decades ago.
Lester grew up in a big city in the 1950s. He got into trouble as a young teenager for playing truant and other minor offences, and was sent to a school run by Roman Catholic Brothers.
He soon found out that violence and abuse, perpetrated by the Brothers, was commonplace. His first experience of this at the school was being pushed by one of them, and injuring his head. The children were regularly beaten for ‘reasons’ such as making eye contact with one of these men.
Whenever the children were beaten with a strap, they had to take off their shorts, and bend over the table.
On one occasion when Lester was being punished in this way, the Brother took off his own trousers and stood behind Lester. Lester experienced severe pain. He didn’t understand the cause of this at the time, but now thinks it was from anal penetration as well as the beating.
Lester recalls more of the Catholic Brothers, and a visiting clergyman, wanting Lester to ‘play’ with them and ‘do things’ at different times. On one occasion, he ran away. After he was returned to the school, he was raped by one of the Brothers, and subsequently, on several other occasions.
In a bid for help, Lester and some of the other boys left a note in a public place, stating what the Brothers were doing to the boys in the school. The note was passed to the police, and they contacted the school.
The next day, all the boys were severely beaten by the Brothers, who were trying to find out who had written the note. The police never investigated or came to the school.
The only positive experiences that Lester had at the school were when one teacher took some of the boys away on trips. Lester enjoyed these days and says it was such a relief to get away from the Brothers.
Once, when he was allowed to go home for a visit, Lester’s mother asked him if he had been abused. It turned out that another boy had managed to get a message to his mother, and she in turn told Lester’s mother. Lester told her he had.
Lester’s mother went to see a senior cleric, who said they would deal with it, and that she should not tell anyone else. However, nothing was done.
In recent years, Lester realised the school was being investigated for abuse, and he contacted the police. The people who had abused him were either dead or could not be found, and Lester feels his disclosure to the police was not treated with importance because the abuse had happened a long time ago.
Lester has abused alcohol and has thought of suicide. After he left the school he felt angry with the system and got into trouble again. He was sent to a youth detention centre, and then joined the armed forces, which he says got his life ‘on track’.
He firmly believes that abuse should never be forgotten. He says that senior people in the Church knew what was going on and should be held to account. ‘We need to stop the cover-ups.’
Lester feels strongly that the police have a duty of care to take allegations seriously.
He adds a message to other victims and survivors: ‘Don’t be afraid to speak out … you haven’t done anything wrong.’