Foster child to sue state

Ashley centre also part of action

A FORMER foster child who says his carer subjected him to horrific abuse under the guise of “discipline”, forcing him to eat regurgitated food, lick his own urine and sleep in a dog kennel, is suing the Tasmanian government for failing to protect him.

The man, now in his 30s, is also pursuing the government over vicious beatings he says he suffered while locked up at the Ashley Youth Detention Centre and for being kept in isolation without food.

It is believed the man, who lodged his civil claim in the Supreme Court of Tasmania last week, is only the second former Ashley detainee to reach this stage of proceedings.

According to court documents, the man – who was taken away from his birth mother as a child because of maltreatment – claims he was seriously mistreated by his foster mother in the 1990s when he was aged between five and 10.

His lawyer says the government knew the foster carer was abusive as she was the subject of a history of complaints made about her “discipline practices”.

The man said the woman regularly beat him with a wooden spoon, flushed his head down the toilet, forced him to dance while hitting him with a stick and made him stand in a corner – sometimes naked – until he collapsed from exhaustion.

He said she also forced him to lick his own urine and eat regurgitated food, amid a litany of other physical and emotional abuse. The man has also claimed that while at Ashley in 2002 and 2003, he was often “punched for fun”.

“I was regularly bullied and attacked by other kids and staff,” he said.

“I remember one beating by staff where I ended up with a broken cheek and jaw. I was too scared to leave my room after that.”

The man says as a result of the abuse, he has suffered depression, anxiety, alcohol abuse, conduct or anti-social personality disorder and cognitive impairment.

His lawyers, Arnold Thomas & Becker, have argued the government breached its duty of care by failing to have systems to prevent the abuse of children in foster care or at Ashley.

“The state had medical advice stating our client should be removed from his foster carer. This was not acted upon and instead he suffered destructive abuse and punishment that continue to haunt him to this day,” lawyer Joseph Ridley said.

The law firm is also acting for another former Ashley detainee who says he was forced to perform sex acts upon the facility’s wardens and older boys in the 1980s and ’90s.

Meanwhile, Victorian lawyer Angela Sdrinis is continuing to prepare a class action for about 100 former Ashley detainees who say they were abused while incarcerated.