Order of Malta: Sex assault complaint made about volunteer years before abuse of teens

A former Order of Malta volunteer who sexually abused two teenage boys in 2018 was reported to the first-aid organisation three years previously over a separate alleged sexual assault, but was not removed from the ambulance corps.

Scott Browne (31) a former Order of Malta volunteer from Co Kildare, was jailed in 2020 over the sexual abuse of two 15-year-old boys.

He was sentenced to 11 years with 18 months suspended after pleading guilty to the oral rape of one boy in Co Laois on May 7th, 2018, and the sexual assault of another teenager two weeks later at locations in Dublin and the Wicklow mountains.

In both incidents the teenagers had been incapacitated after being given a strong pain relief drug stolen from Order of Malta supplies, with Justice Paul McDermott stating Browne had used his position in the voluntary organisation “to perpetuate his crimes”.

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Documents seen by The Irish Times reveal a previous complaint of alleged sexual assault had been made about Browne to the Order of Malta in May 2015.

An 18-year-old volunteer alleged Browne had sexually assaulted him in a hotel room while on an overseas trip with the organisation to Lourdes, France.

The complaint was investigated internally by a senior volunteer in the organisation’s ambulance corps at the time, but Browne remained in the organisation.

The alleged victim, Justin Kelly (25), from Co Longford, wrote to the organisation last year to criticise how his complaint was dealt with.

Mr Kelly claimed he was advised against reporting the alleged incident to gardaí as it had happened abroad. An officer involved in responding to the complaint was later promoted to a senior position within the organisation.

He said after a number of weeks he was told the ambulance corps was unable to take any action. His letter said later he was “paired” on first-aid duty with Browne at a regional event, which caused him significant anxiety.

Mr Kelly, who had been in State care, said the Order of Malta was his “family” at the time but felt it failed him after he came forward to report the alleged assault. He had been consumed by “guilt” that Browne had later sexually abused two other teenagers.

In response to his letter the organisation’s then-chief executive Peadar Ward met Mr Kelly and apologised over how he had been treated.

Speaking to The Irish Times, Mr Kelly said he was told during the meeting that the organisation’s headquarters had not been made aware of his allegation in 2015. “The Order of Malta was my life, I don’t have that now … This is not a patient in a field, this is the lives of people that were hurt,” he said.

The organisation’s board, known as the council, met on Wednesday and agreed to commission an internal investigation into safeguarding standards. The inquiry is also expected to examine the handling of the 2015 complaint, a source said.

In a statement to members on Wednesday, the organisation's president Richard Duc de Stacpoole confirmed a review would be carried out to identify "any new or improved safeguarding practices" .

The work would “identify any immediate and future potential risks and vulnerabilities”, as well as provide “limitation of damage to the reputation and integrity of our ambulance corps,” he said.

The organisation did not respond to a request for comment from The Irish Times on the 2015 complaint.