Ngā hara taitōkai i te marae
Sexual abuse at a marae

70.      Brother McGrath sexually abused rangatahi at Hebron Trust’s various premises, as well as at a marae.^[314] The marae permitted street kids to sleep there, and Brother McGrath would take them there at the end of the day, usually after nightfall.^[315] One survivor, Mr HF, said he was abused more than 30 or 40 times at the marae.^[316] Brother McGrath would force him to have intercourse with another male ‘street kid’, and he would also make the boys perform sexual acts on each other.^[317] Brother McGrath would tie up Mr HF and make him watch while he raped the other boy.^[318]

I whakaponotia ō Parata McGrath rongo       
Brother McGrath had a trusted reputation

71.      Brother McGrath had a trusted reputation in the Christchurch community. By grooming Hebron Trust residents, Brother McGrath created a trustworthy image with his victims and within the Christchurch community. Some survivors described their first impressions of Brother McGrath as friendly, supportive and ‘almost fatherly’.^[319] Andrew Downs, who worked as a programme co-ordinator at Hebron Trust said that the high trust in Brother McGrath created barriers to disclosing the abuse:

“He was so well connected and so admired. Even my family doctor of 26 years told me that Brother Bernard would never do that kind of stuff. The community loved him.”^[320]

72.      Cooper Legal also stated:

“The trust and respect given to Brother McGrath as a religious youth worker and a father figure to troubled young people was a key tool in his abuse being able to occur, as well as a particular image he would invoke as part of his grooming. As noted below, he would befriend boys by putting hands on their shoulders and calling them ‘son’.”^[321]

73.      Brother McGrath was also known to supply drugs and alcohol in an attempt to form special relationships with Hebron Trust residents. Many survivors describe being under the influence of alcohol and substances supplied by Brother McGrath when the sexual abuse took place.^[322]

74.      Survivor Mr GJ was nine or 10 years old when a friend took him to visit a Hebron Trust property, saying that Brother McGrath would give them money and drugs. Brother McGrath supplied both Mr GJ and his friend with petrol and glue and then sexually abused them: “Because I was high on petrol, I did not really take in what was happening to me.” He recalled his friend receiving money after this first incident:

“We left after this. I didn’t get any money, but my friend did. I think this might have been for bringing me there, but I’m not sure”.^[323]

75.      Mr GJ’s friend took his own life several years after Brother McGrath was arrested for allegations of sexual abuse.

Te Whakarekereke me te taitōkai
Violence and fear

76.      Like many Marylands survivors who were abused by Brother McGrath, we heard from other survivors about the religious elements and how the fear of God was used during the sexual abuse.

77.      We have heard from many survivors that Brother McGrath would often use physical force and extreme violence before and during the abuse. Some survivors feared for their lives during the attacks. Threats of violence were also used to instil fear to prevent the victim from disclosing the abuse.

78.      We also heard that Brother McGrath used restraints and locked rooms to hold his victims, some of whom were violently assaulted. Cooper Legal said some clients were “forced to participate in sexual acts with other children, including family members, or were made to watch while Brother McGrath assaulted their family members.”^[324]

79.      Cooper Legal also acted for a Māori survivor Justin Taia, who was repeatedly and violently sexually abused by McGrath. Cooper Legal said:

“It is important to emphasise that the rapes from Brother McGrath had an added violent, ritualistic and fetishistic component. During most of the rapes, Brother McGrath would put a scarf in Justin’s mouth and tape his mouth with duct tape, presumably to prevent him from making a sound. Brother McGrath also had handcuffs and would handcuff Justin to the bed and blindfold him. He was very rough towards Justin once he was bound, gagged and ‘trussed up’.”^[325]

80.     Another victim said Brother McGrath threatened to throw him into a river and drown or stab him if he told anyone about the abuse.^[326] One survivor placed with Hebron Trust described intense feelings of humiliation after Brother McGrath raped him and left him in his room after the assault. He lay there “bleeding and crying, with faeces everywhere.^[327] Some of the other boys came home later. I remember that one of the boys opened my room and laughed at me. I was still laying there, crying, because it hurt so much.”^[328]

Te hara taitōkai hei whakawhiunga
Sexual abuse as punishment

81.      Survivors spoke of abuse, including sexual abuse, being used, at times, as punishment at Marylands and Hebron Trust. Steven Long, a Marylands survivor, told us of one such instance:

“The brothers had a bach on Waikuku Beach, north of Christchurch. I remember Brother McGrath taking us kids there ... [w]hile we were walking on the beach [one of the boys] started getting grizzly and hanging back. Brother McGrath went to get him, put his hands over his throat and swung him around, then he threw him out into the surf. I just looked at Brother McGrath, and he looked at me in an ‘I dare you’ sort of way. [This kid] went under water and I ran out and hauled him up. He was choking and terrified. I pulled him back onto the beach. Brother McGrath then kicked me, picked me up and pulled me over to the sand dunes. Then he made me masturbate him in front of everybody, which I think was his way of reducing the mana of what had just happened.”^[329]

82.     Some survivors from the orphanage who said they were sent to Marylands to be disciplined and spoke of the nuns leaving them with brothers or priests, as punishment for doing something. Children who were taken by the nuns to be disciplined by the brothers would often be sexually abused.^[330]

83.      Survivors at Hebron also suffered sexual abuse as a form of punishment, Mr EU said:

“I remember being drunk. I also remember putting my bike against the wall and smashing a window ... soon after, Brother Bernard’s van came up the driveway ... I knew I was in trouble ... Brother Bernard came into my room, yelling and screaming at me ... [h]e told me I had to be punished. Brother Bernard told me to pull my pants down and bend over ... and started smacking me with something like a cane ... he then raped me. I remember that I was screaming and crying. I also remember that my faeces were everywhere. I was covered in faeces. Brother Bernard started shouting at me, calling me a filthy, filthy boy. He also kept hitting me.”^[331]

84.     Sexual assault was frequently used as another form of punishment. There is evidence to suggest it was often conducted in front of other boys to serve as a warning,^[332] in the same way as strapping or caning.^[333]

Te whānui o ngā tūkinotanga
Extent of abuse

85.     The Inquiry sought comprehensive information from Catholic Church authorities in Aotearoa New Zealand about all reports of abuse made to it from 1950 to 30 June 2021, including sexual, physical and psychological abuse, as well as neglect, failed responses to reports of abuse and facilitation of abuse.Reports of abuse included:

a.         Formal reports made by the alleged victim themselves or an authorised representative.

b.         Informal reports made by the individual alleging abuse.

c.         Allegations of abuse made by a family member, friend, or aquaintance of the alleged victim, whether or not the survivor was aware that this allegation was being made to the Catholic entity.

d.         Allegations of abuse where the person making the allegation did not ask for any form of redress or asked that the matter not be taken any further.^[334]
The information provided by the Catholic Church authorities included recorded reports of abuse by the Order’s brothers.

86.     Te Rōpū Tautoko, on behalf of the Order, also provided briefing papers summarising the nature and extent of reports of abuse at both Marylands^[335] and Hebron Trust.^[336]

87.      We note that there are limitations to this data. It cannot give a complete picture as it only includes reported abuse. As we have found in earlier reports^[337] much abuse goes unreported, because of the significant barriers to survivors reporting abuse while in the care of faith-based institutions, including the Catholic Church. The level of disability of some of the boys at Marylands is likely to be a further barrier to reporting.

88.      At times, when a report was made, it may not have been recorded. For example, some reports of abuse discussed in the evidence of Brother Timothy Graham and documents are not included in the raw data or the briefing papers provided to the Inquiry.^[338] Similarly, Mr HZ’s disclosure of sexual abuse to Brother Garchow is not included in the Order’s summary of what it knew and when, because it only came to the attention of the Order prior to the Marylands hearing.^[339]

89.     For all these reasons we treat the data summarised in the next section as indicative, likely revealing only the tip of the iceberg of the number of tamariki and rangatahi at Marylands and Hebron Trust who were actually abused or the true amount of abuse and neglect that was inflicted on them.

Te nui o ngā whāwhākitanga e ai ki ngā raraunga i whoatungia e te Rangapū     
Number of allegations according to data provided by Order

90.     From the data we received, we can say that of the 537 boys who attended Marylands, more than one in five (118) reported abuse while in the school’s care. There were 241 reports of abuse at the school, the orphanage and the Order’s bach at Waikuku beach. Of the 118 individuals, more than half (64) reported abuse by more than one brother.

91.      In addition, 28 individuals reported abuse across Hebron Trust settings. This included abuse at Waipuna, Pampuri and Farm Cottage, as well as other locations such as Brother McGrath’s house. All but one reported Brother McGrath abusing them. The other individual reported abuse by a lay member of staff. Of this group, 23 were 18 years old or younger.

92.     Across all Christchurch settings, the Order says it had records of reports of abuse from 146 individuals, reporting 269 complaints of abuse.

Ngā momo whāwhāki
Types of allegations

93.     We have grouped the types of abuse reported to the Order into 10 categories and set them out in the following table , Type of abuse at Marylands School and Hebron Trust. The total of 361 is 66 more than the 269 incidents of abuse reported above, because some incidents involved several forms of abuse.

94.     From 1955 to 1983, 37 brothers ministered in the Christchurch community (the period during which the Order operated Marylands).

95.     Of those 37 brothers, 21 (57 per cent) have had allegations of abuse made against them covering all of the forms of abuse within the Inquiry’s Terms of Reference.

96.     More than half (51 per cent) of the 37 brothers had allegations of child sexual abuse made against them. This proportion is much higher than that reported by the Australian Royal Commission, which found 30 per cent of brothers in Australia had a claim of child sexual abuse against them in the 35-year period 1980 to 2015.

97.      From 1950 to 2020, 42 St John of God brothers were present in Aotearoa New Zealand. Of those brothers, 21 have had allegations of abuse made against them and one has had an allegation of failing to respond to a report of abuse.

98.     Throughout the 28 years Marylands was operating, on average there would be seven brothers at a time appointed to the Christchurch community, five of whom would be alleged perpetrators of abuse, and four of these five would be alleged perpetrators of sexual abuse. On average, abusers would stay longer at Marylands than those who were not alleged to have abused. The average length of ministry in Christchurch from 1955 to 1983 for those brothers who had reports of abuse made against them was 6.14 years. In contrast, the length of stay of those brothers not alleged to have abused was much shorter, spending an average of 2.77 years in ministry in Christchurch. The reason for this difference is unclear.

99.     In the expectation that there will be public interest in comparing the Aotearoa New Zealand position with the findings of the Australian Royal Commission, the Inquiry has used the same weighted average approach, as was used by the Australian Royal Commission in relation to reports of sexual abuse for the 29-year period 1955 to 1983, the years of operation of Marylands School. Although the official takeover of Marylands by the State was in 1984, there were no reports of abuse in 1984.

100.   For the period 1955 to 1983, the proportion of the total number of brothers in ministry in Aotearoa New Zealand who were alleged perpetrators of sexual abuse, taking into account the number of years they ministered in that community, was 71 per cent.^[340]

101.   This is significantly higher than the Australian Royal Commission’s weighted average calculation of 40 per cent of the Order’s brothers in Australia being subject to such reports^[341], although we note that these numbers were taken over a longer period from 1950 to 2020.

Tokowaru ngā parata i tūkino i te tokomaha o ngā tamariki me ngā rangatahi

Eight brothers abused multiple tamariki and rangatahi

102.   Of the 21 brothers subject to reports of abuse, eight abused multiple tamariki and rangatahi. The scale of the alleged abuse perpetrated by Brother McGrath was immense, with 74 reports of abuse or 28 per cent of all complaints.

103.   The eight brother perpetrators from the Order with the highest number of known reports are:

›       Bernard McGrath – 74 reports of abuse (27.5 per cent of all reports of abuse within Aotearoa New Zealand).

›       Rodger Moloney (now deceased) – 32 reports of abuse.

›       William Lebler (Brother Thaddeus, now deceased) – 22 reports of abuse.

›       Leonard Lock (Brother Sebastian, now deceased) – 17 reports of abuse.

›       Gerald Griffin (Brother Celsus, now deceased) – 11 reports of abuse.

›       Raymond Garchow (now deceased) – eight reports of abuse.

›       Thomas Dillon (Brother Raphael, now deceased) – seven reports of abuse.

›       Brother DQ left the Order and whose identity is subject to a court suppression order – seven reports of abuse.

Te whakaaweawe o ngā takakinotanga me ngā whakangongonga
The impacts of abuse and neglect

104.   All survivors of abuse and neglect from Marylands, Hebron Trust and the orphanage, who the Inquiry heard from, have suffered significant and life-long impacts to many facets of who they are, their relationships, their potential and the life they lead.

105.   Māori survivors also described being harmed by the racist culture which resulted in further harmful impacts on them. These impacts included racial discrimination while at Marylands and Hebron Trust and disbelief when disclosing abuse. Many Māori survivors that the Inquiry heard from also came from homes or whānau that were on the margins of social life. Their iwi and hapū were not empowered to intervene. We heard that these Māori survivors were vulnerable and unable to stop or prevent abuse of their children.

106.   Disabled survivors suffered additional trauma from what we now recognise as ableist abuse. Where survivors weren’t able to verbalise their trauma, inadequate supports were in place to assist them, such as supported decision-making or the use of augmented alternative communication.

Te tūkino me te whakamataku, te noho i te pāweratanga 
Cruelty and terror, lives lived in fear

107.   The abuse by brothers of the Order has had a profound and devastating impact on many aspects of survivors’ lives. Often the effects were immediately apparent, but even if they were not, they would materialise by adulthood and many survivors spoke of the grief for what they could have been. As survivor Mr AB put it, the abuse “changed the direction of my adult life. Even to this day I feel like a runaway train without a driver on board”.^[342]

108.   When Brother McGrath was sentenced in April 2006^[343] for sexually abusing pupils at Marylands school between 1974 and 1977, the judge accepted the evidence of beatings and violence and noted McGrath’s admission that “the pupils were ruled by fear”.^[344]

109.   The judge noted in sentencing that the victims concerned, without exception, had been sent to Marylands because they suffered some form of disability “be it mental, physical or in terms of social adjustment”.^[345] The judge further noted that some victims had been bribed or threatened if they were to disclose the offending. The elements of violence, bribery and threats were also acknowledged.

110.   The evidence the Inquiry has received from survivors is entirely consistent with the court’s observations about abuse at both Marylands and Hebron Trust. The emotional abuse was pervasive and linked with physical and sexual abuse. Children and young people were terrorised. Life at Marylands was unpredictable and there was no means of escape. Some young people at Hebron Trust, including those who were not residents but had associations with Hebron, would often run away after being abused and end up in dangerous situations, as that seemed like a better option than remaining in Brother McGrath’s care.^[346] Survivors talked of wanting to disappear, indicating they had considered suicide.

111.    There was a prevailing and pervasive culture of violence and control within the Order. So many lives were lived in intense fear. The level of cruelty, psychological harm and violence appears to have compounded the already extreme trauma caused by the extreme level of sexual abuse.

Ngā pānga whawhati tata o te takakino me te whakangongo 
The immediate effects of the abuse and neglect

112.   Survivors recall the immediate physical impacts of the abuse and neglect suffered such as rectal injuries, bleeding and bruising while family members and other adults noticed sudden changes to boys’ behaviour.

113.   A lay caregiver at the school, Ms AM, told us one reason lay staff thought the boys at Marylands were being abused was their noticeable mood and behaviour changes: “Some became violent and were emotionally uncontrollable.”^[347]

114.   Such behavioural changes had an impact on families when the children went home for the holidays. A Marylands survivor, Mr IH, said he struggled to cope when he returned for the holidays. He said he was “a bit rough” with his sisters at times and often threatened them and other family members. He said his mother once became so concerned about his behaviour that “she put jam jars outside my bedroom door so that she would be able to hear me if I left my bedroom at night”.^[348]

115.   Ms DN, the sister of Mr DO, said that her brother “would rip our books up and break our toys”. She and the rest of the family would count down the days until her brother left to return to Marylands: “We were too young to understand why he behaved that way. I know some of my siblings still feel guilty for thinking that way.”^[349]

116.   Many boys began to exhibit overt or inappropriate sexual behaviour because such behaviour was normal at Marylands.

117.    Mr EU, a Hebron Trust survivor, described the crippling pain that he suffered after being raped and that the pain continued for many years.

118.   Alan Nixon recalls being sore for a month after an episode in McGrath’s bedroom. He found blood in his underwear too, however, he didn’t understand where it had come from.^[350]

“Soon after the rape, I started to have serious pains in my anus, which would almost buckle me over. I remember that I continued to have these pains until I was in my 20s.”^[351]

119.   Mr DG described how the sexual abuse by Brother Moloney intensified and occurred almost daily:

“Oral and anal sex were eventually a daily occurrence. My bottom would often be sore because of the abuse and on multiple occasions I recall it being purple in colour.”^[352]

120.   A caregiver at Marylands recalls having to commonly treat the children for anal and rectal injuries:

“It was quite common for us to have to apply cream medication for anal fissures (splits and infection in the anal passage) to some boys. I believe that the boys’ medical records would have recorded this and may assist in identifying those children. The treatment for the anal fissures involved inserting tubes of ointment into the anuses of the boys affected.”^[353]

121.   A number of survivors have developed illnesses and injuries and believe these are as an indirect effect of the sexual abuse, including liver damage from alcohol addiction^[354], high blood presure causing haemorrhages^[355], and anxiety-related stomach pains.^[356] For example, Mr DO was diagnosed with rectal cancer and at the time his sister, Ms DN, gave evidence at the Marylands School hearing, Mr DO was receiving palliative care. Mr DO’s doctors said they believed a sexually transmitted disease during childhood (herpes) was the likely cause. Ms DN told us that life for Mr DO was miserable and that he suffered from faecal incontinence almost continuously.^[357] In September of 2022, Mr DO passed away from the cancer.