Actor’s drama school left students at ‘serious risk’
A boy tried to set another on fire at Jim Moriarty’s shuttered school, writes Harrison Christian.
Troubled kids were put in danger at the Te Rakau drama school run by actor Jim Moriarty, according to a previously unreleased report by Child, Youth and Family (CYF).
The 2011 CYF report, released under the Official Information Act, identified serious risks at the drama trust, which included allegations of abuse and violence between staff and the young people in their care.
Successor ministry Oranga Tamariki is already reinvestigating a historic sex abuse complaint at the facility on Moriarty’s Wellington property, which was shut down in 2011.
Aucklander Jacob Mayhew and his twin brother claim another resident sexually abused them during their stay at Te Rakau in 2008.
Mayhew alleged Moriarty knew about the abuse, which the actor denies.
Oranga Tamariki previously declined to answer questions about why all young people were removed from the trust’s care in 2011, while Moriarty told the Sunday Star-Times the trust had voluntarily relinquished its services.
But the CYF report found the trust was ‘‘unable to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the young people in its care’’.
‘‘Records contain allegations of abuse by Te Rakau staff, assault of Te Rakau staff and assault between young people both physical and sexual,’’ the report said.
It found that because of a lack of child abuse-related training for staff, there was a ‘‘risk that abuse of a young person may go unnoticed and therefore unreported’’.
The trust, which opened its doors to troubled boys for seven years from 2004, also did not maintain a register of abuse allegations or disclosures.
The report found there had been several serious assaults on residents, including an incident where a boy tried to set another boy on fire. A contracted staff member at the school also had a ‘‘large number’’ of convictions, including assault of a child and aggravated assault.
The assessor who wrote the report visited the trust in late 2011 and found the sleeping areas at the property in Island Bay, Wellington, were dimly lit and ‘‘somewhat grim’’.
Meanwhile, in response to an Official Information Act request, police confirmed they carried out three separate sexual assault investigations at Te between 2005 and 2011.
A former staff member at Te Rakau, who didn’t want to be named, described a high staff turnover and a culture of fear among the young people there.
The woman joined the facility in the late 2000s as a fresh drama school graduate, she said.
At first, she was worried it could be dangerous working with boys who had troubled backgrounds, but it was soon clear Moriarty was in control, she said.
‘‘He’s not a big man, but he has a huge presence.’’
Moriarty was approached for comment and said in a statement that prior reporting on Mayhew’s sex abuse complaint had been ‘‘false and defamatory,’’ and he planned to seek legal advice.
‘‘Our wish has only ever been for the wellbeing of those who were in our care,’’ Moriarty said.
‘‘We comply, and have complied, with all the legal and best practice requirements of our funders.’’ Rakau