ALLEGATIONS of child molestation in Tasmania have prompted a Royal Commission into the Church of England Boys’ Society.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
In a statement, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sex Abuse announced a public hearing about the matter for Hobart on January 27.
The announcement comes after a number of allegations of child sexual abuse were made against lay people and/or clergy involved in or associated with the Church of England Boys’ Society.
The scope and purpose of the public hearing is to inquire into:
●The experiences of survivors of child sexual abuse by lay people and/or clergy involved in or associated with the Church of England Boys’ Society, including Louis Daniels, Garth Hawkins, Robert Brandenberg, Simon Jacobs and John Elliott.
●The responses of the Church of England Boys’ Society and the Anglican Dioceses of Tasmania, Adelaide, Sydney and Brisbane to allegations of child sexual abuse.
●The systems, policies and procedures in place within the Church of England Boys’ Society and the Anglican Dioceses of Tasmania, Adelaide, Sydney and Brisbane in relation to youth camps and activities, raising and responding to concerns and complaints about child sexual abuse.
Any person or institution who have a ‘‘direct and substantial interest’’ in the public hearing is invited to lodge a written application for leave to appear at the public hearing by January 15, 2016.
Applications for leave to appear should be made using the form available on the Royal Commission website.
Former Tasmanian priest Louis Daniels was found to have raped 10 boys aged between 11 and 17 from January 1974 until December 1993.
Former Anglican priest in Tasmania, Garth Hawkins, was jailed in 2003 for sexually abusing eight boys in the 1970s and 1980s.
Former Church of England Boys’ Society youth worker Robert Brandenberg killed himself in 1999 after admitting to police he raped a number of children.
John Elliott, who ran a branch of the society in Tasmania, pleaded guilty in 2003 to 10 counts of sodomy and 18 charges of indecently dealing with boys in the 1970s.
Simon Jacobs, of North Sydney, was convicted in 2010 of four charges against two boys while he was a leader in the Church of England Boys Society in the 1970s and 1980s.
