A man who, as a schoolboy, was sexually abused by a care worker while he was on a visit to a Co Kilkenny orphanage in the mid-1970s has sued the orphanage for damages in the High Court. The court was told the man had attempted suicide many years after the assault.
Mr Patrick McCarthy SC, for the man, said his client had taken these proceedings because he could not get redress through the Laffoy commission as he was a visitor to the orphanage as distinct from being an inmate.
The Laffoy commission was geared to redress damage done to people who resided in State institutions, counsel said. The fact that his client could not seek redress through the commission because he was a visitor and not an inmate was a distinction that should not have been made by the Minister.
The man, who now lives in Spain, has brought the action against St Joseph's Orphanage, Kilkenny, where the incident occurred; and the Minister for Education, who is sued as being entrusted with the supervision of industrial schools under the Children's Act, 1908/1957. The person who allegedly carried out the abuse is dead.
Mr Justice O'Higgins was told neither defendant was denying the fact of the assault but the date of the actual assault was still an issue.
Opening the case, Mr McCarthy said his client was friendly with a boy who was an inmate at the orphanage. On one occasion, while visiting that friend, they went with the care worker to the latter's bedroom. When his friend went away to get tea, the care worker opened the plaintiff's trousers and abused him.
From that time onwards, the plaintiff became inward and less sociable, leading to depressive illness for which he was treated. He attempted suicide in 1996. He had ongoing trauma and stress disorder.
The matter came to light initially when the plaintiff was seen by his mother sticking a needle into a photo of the care worker in 1977. His parents contacted the institution and the gardaí and the care worker was removed. The parents did not wish matters to proceed any further at the time.
In the following years, it became obvious the plaintiff had not progressed but became more inward looking and found it difficult to make relationships, counsel said.
In evidence, the plaintiff said he and his friend, who was an inmate of the orphanage, were in the same class in school.The friend would visit his home and he would visit him in the institution. The care worker, who was a house parent at the orphanage, would also visit his home and meet his parents.
One evening in late 1976, when he was at the orphanage the three of them went to the care worker's bedroom. The care worker asked his friend to go and get tea and biscuits. When he was away, the care worker locked the door. He asked the boy to lie on the bed and abused him. The friend came back and knocked at the door. The door was unlocked and the friend came in.
The man said he did not tell anybody about what had happened at the time. Following the incident regarding the care worker's photo, he remembered going to the gardaí with his parents. The gardaí were told what had happened but he did not make any written statement. He was told by his parents that the care worker had been sent away.
In school afterwards, he had no friends and was a loner. He felt estranged, even from his own family. He did not say to anybody that he was depressed because he did not know he was depressed and did not know what it was at the time. In college, he tried to make friends but felt rejected. After graduating, he attended a psychologist and later a psychiatrist. He got a job but did not seem to be able to relate to others at work.
After he got married, he was sometimes depressed. He was in hospital once for overdosing on tablets. In 1996, he reported the abuse incident to the gardaí again. The hearing continues today.