Victim’s abuser had relationship with mum
BY JAMES MULHOLLAND reporters@dailyrecord.co.uk A FORMER pupil of a top Catholic boarding school has told an inquiry how he suspects a religious brother who raped him is his biological father.
The man, who can only be known as Jack, told Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry investigators how he was sexually assaulted when he got to know a monk at St Joseph’s College in Dumfries.
He said he was abused by the man, who can’t be named, during a trip to Middlesbrough in the late 60s.
In a witness statement which was read to the inquiry yesterday, Jack said he suspects his assailant was his father.
He claimed the religious brother had a sexual relationship with his mum which lasted several years.
Jack told investigators: “I have suspicions my mother had a relationship with the man and he was my biological father.” The statement given by Jack was read out at the inquiry, presided over by judge Lady Smith, which has been called to establish the extent of abuse of children in care in Scotland.
Recent evidence has focused on institutions run by the Marist Order of the Roman Catholic Church.
Describing the trip to Middlesbrough, Jack said: “He raped me and told me not say to anybody what happened.
“It was at a time in the 60s that you did what you were told.”
Jack said he became suspicious about the links his mother had with the man who abused him. He added: “When I was 12, I thought he was visiting my mum to call for sex. Why else would he be there?”
The victim said he has been left with mental health problems.
He said: “I like to describe myself as a 20-stone man with the temper of a sevenyear-old boy. I take a lot of tablets to cope with my mental health problems.”
Jack said in later years, he contacted the Order to tell them about the abuse but added: “It annoyed me that there seemed to be such emphasis placed on his welfare and not mine.”
The inquiry continues on Tuesday.