The FAQyMe Gene Archive: A Depository of Molested Catholics Historic Data

Revealing hidden truths: data from child abuse survivors to secure justice and recognition.

<< First < Previous Current Page "721" Next > Last >>

Article originally prepared on : 13 August 2010

Article Category: JohnB

Toowoomba family forced to leave 'God's' city

Description: THE family of a young girl who was repeatedly raped by her teacher at a Toowoomba (Catholic) primary school say they have been ostracised and forced out of the city they once loved. [Toowoomba, known as the Christian capital of Australia and also as 'The central Christian pustule for child sexual abuse' has shown once again its desire to hide the crimes of clergy and to ostracise the abused for speaking out]

THE family of a young girl who was repeatedly raped by her teacher at a Toowoomba primary school say they have been ostracised and forced out of the city they once loved.

The girl's distraught father told The Chronicle his family had been so devastated by the horrific crimes against his daughter they were leaving Toowoomba to try to piece their lives back together.

Legal action is about to be launched on behalf of the family against the Catholic Church which has admitted liability for the numerous acts of sexual assault against children at the school.

Gerard Vincent Byrnes, 61, has pleaded guilty to 33 counts of sexually molesting children, 10 counts of raping children and one count of maintaining a sexual relationship with a girl under 12.

The offences were committed against 13 different girls in classes taught by the former Catholic primary school teacher between January, 2007, and September, 2008.

The father of the young girl who will now take his daughter to a new life remembers clearly the day he first learned of the horror she went through at just eight-years-old.

It was November, 2008, and it was his wife's birthday.

The man received a phone call from a police officer and was asked to take his daughter to Toowoomba station for questioning.

"She was fully shocked by the police interview - after that she cried a lot," the father remembered.

He said the ongoing trauma had put terrible strain on his family, his work and his relationship with his wife.

But despite what had happened, the man said he hadn't received a single phone call from his daughter's school, just one generalised letter offering counselling and a series of letters from the Catholic Church as legal proceedings progressed. [This appears to be standard fare across the globe in Catholic communities]

"To be honest, I expected a phone call from the school," he said.

"I am angry and upset with the school and the Catholic Education (office) because they are responsible.

"That creature was the child protection officer and he did those things to all those kids."

The family's lawyer, Roger Singh, a partner at Shine Lawyers, said they deserved to be compensated for the horror they had been put through.

"The aim is to bring the church to account and that we will do," he said.

Law firm Slater and Gordon is also pursuing legal action on behalf of five families of children who were assaulted.

The principal of the school at the time and two of his superiors were sacked in December last year as a result of the sex abuse scandal. [Reports indicate that Christopher Fry (Catholic Education Toowoomba) is now in the employ of the Catholic church in another role. JohnB]

Byrnes is due to be sentenced on October 4.

http://www.thechronicle.com.au/story/2010/08/12/family-forced-leave-dity/

Email to Jim Campbell, Jim.Campbell@thechronicle.com.au Toowoomba Chronicle August 13, 2010

Jim,

You can read on others who have spoken out in regards abuse in the catholic system and of the ostracism they faced and the repeated failures despite the assurances of bishops and others in the church - see Angie for how a mother of 6 children in Healesville in Victoria has been and is still being treated atrociously today. Mother calls for help for abused and ostracised children

Peter Gogarty is another 'humanely treated' through the Catholic processes.

You could ask one of the bishops relatives who lives in Toowoomba -John Brown as to how honest and how human and caring the processes the church offers really are.

Try Ian Lawther on how the church has treated him and his family Ian Lawther

Mike, Mark, Carmel, Chrissie and so many others all of whom have a personal experience and understanding of the way the church process works and of the harm that can come to those who undertake the church's 'healing' processes.

For the sake of the children still at Catholic schools and those parents who have had the misfortune of not having a more comprehensive understanding of the way the church processes work and how they fail children and families. Each of these people have experienced the 'support' offered by the church and all the above and more can be contacted via this web site as they and many others know just how important it is for these parents and their children in Toowoomba to learn of the experience of others.

You can check the numbers and inform the public of the reality of the global failures of the church in regards the safety and the protection of children in Catholic institutions Estimating-the-numbers-Australia-diocese

These are the people who can provide a genuine insight and can relate the reality of those attempting to deal with the results of abuse and their attempts to find a resolution via the processes offered by the church - the children and the parents you write of here and in today's article deserve the opportunity to hear the facts of these people's experiences so that others are protected and not harmed further and so that no other child and no other parent should ever again have to experience the horror these families have been subjected to.

rgds

JohnB

List Molested Catholics Categories

Divider - dont forget to donate so we can keep on with education to protect children - hope you benefitted from reading this

The FAQyMe Gene Archive: Molested Catholics Historic Data

If you wish to keep this article alive in the Internet Archive simply click the link below.
Click here to add this page to the Internet Archive

Select from these TFYQA archives
Contact us if you have data you want to preserve.

Tell others, share this page on : X | BlueSky | Mastodon.Social | Strangeminds.Social | Facebook

Find us on X.com || New ID on Facebook || BlueSky || Mastodon.Social || Strangeminds.Social

trauma informed human rights justice failed institutions UN Convention on Human Rights Rights of the Child and a Bill of Rights for Australia future evidence resilience not providing or representing a secular Australia autodidact

Hegemony: The authority, dominance, and influence of one group, nation, or society over another group, nation, or society; typically through cultural, economic, or political means.

If you found this information to be of assistance please don't forget to donate so that we can extend these resources to more survivors. These pages are focused on preserving survivor relevant information. Information is not provided as legal or professional advice; it is provided as general information only and requires that you validate any information via your own legal or other professional service providers.

You can directly support my work at here

Were you like so many others born into a constitutionally protected God based death and rape culture?

TFYQA happily uses IP2Location.io IP geolocation web service. XML Site Map