STAT.0343.001.0001_R Name Address Roya l Co m miss i on in to I nstitutiona l Responses to Child Sexua l Abuse Statement Known to the Royal Commission Occupation Disability Pensioner Date l f) l q l 14 1. This statement made by me accurately sets out the evidence that I am prepared to give to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. The statement is true and correct to the best of my knowledge and belief. 2. My full name is • 3. I was born in 1967 and I am 46 years of age. I have lived in Brewarrina all of my life. I have three brothers. My dad had another family and he had four children with his other partners. 4. I went to Brewarrina Central School in Brewarrina. I liked school. I wanted to be a day carer when I grew up. I lil<e looking after children. Ad mission to Bethcar Children 's Home 5. When I was about 11 years old, my mother started to drink heavily. When she was drunk, she would sometimes give me a flogging. Usually it would be if I did something wrong, and she would hit me. I did not see my dad very much because he would travel around working but when he did return home, I remember that my mum and dad would fight a lot, so I would go to my Auntie's house. 6. When I was about 11 years old , I was taken by the Welfare Department. They came and removed me from school. I remember that Terry Madden (Terry) was the welfare man. I liked hifY/ and I felt that I would be safe when he took me. I did not want to go with Welfare, but I remember Terry Signature ,AIH Witness: ..... .... ... .. .. .. ..... . .. .. .
7
Embed
l 14 - childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au · flogging involved being hit many times, ... He touched my boobs and then he ... bed at night hoping that if he came looking for sex he could
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
STAT.0343.001.0001_R
Name
Address
Roya l Com miss ion into Institutional Responses to Ch ild Sexual Abuse
Statement
Known to the Royal Commission
Occupation Disability Pensioner
Date l f) l q l 14
1. This statement made by me accurately sets out the evidence that I am prepared to give to the
Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. The statement is true and
correct to the best of my knowledge and belief.
2. My full name is •
3. I was born in 1967 and I am 46 years of age. I have lived in Brewarrina all of my life. I have three
brothers. My dad had another family and he had four children with his other partners.
4. I went to Brewarrina Central School in Brewarrina. I liked school. I wanted to be a day carer when
I grew up. I lil<e looking after children.
Admission to Bethcar Children's Home
5. When I was about 11 years old, my mother started to drink heavily. When she was drunk, she
would sometimes give me a flogging. Usually it would be if I did something wrong, and she would
hit me. I did not see my dad very much because he would travel around working but when he did
return home, I remember that my mum and dad would fight a lot, so I would go to my Auntie's
house.
6. When I was about 11 years old, I was taken by the Welfare Department. They came and removed
me from school. I remember that Terry Madden (Terry) was the welfare man. I liked hifY/ and I felt
that I would be safe when he took me. I did not want to go with Welfare, but I remember Terry
Signature ,AIH
Witness: ... .. ~UJ~W ....................... .
shelley.napper
Sticky Note
None set by shelley.napper
shelley.napper
Sticky Note
MigrationNone set by shelley.napper
shelley.napper
Sticky Note
Unmarked set by shelley.napper
STAT.0343.001.0002_R
Statement in the matter of Bethcar Children's Home Page 2 of 7 Statement of • continued
saying that I had to go with him because I was running away all the time. This was usually when I
was going to my Auntie's place, which was still in Brewa"ina.
Life at Bethcar Children's Home
7. I was taken directly to Bethcar Children's Home ('Bethcar') in Brewarrina, New South Wales.
was 11 years old. I felt that I would be safe at Bethcar.
8. Bethcar was run by Bert Gordon (Bert) and Edith Gordon (Edie) . They were my foster parents.
Bert's nickname was "Grub". Bethcar was comprised of two residential houses. Bert and Edie lived
in the big house with all of the children. Colin Gibson (Colin) and lived in the
second, smaller house. mill was the daughter of Bert and Edie, and she was ma"ied to Colin.
9. Colin was a short, solidly built Aboriginal man. Colin 's roles at Bethcar included driving the school
bus, fixing the pipes, and operating the pump which pumped water up from the river.
10. While I was at Bethcar, I do not remember anybody from the Government coming to check on the
kids to see if we were OK.
11. I remember that some of the girls at Bethcar would receive special treatment, like having a
bedroom all to themselves with special toys and presents. I am not sure why they were treated
differently, it seems to me that Bert and Edie just had their favourites. I did not receive special
treatment.
12. I used to share a room with Amelia Moore and • They are my mother's sisters, so
they are my Auntie's, though I am a little older than they are.
13. There were daily chores at Bethcar that tile kids had to do. My job was to make tile beds. If I did
not make the boys and girls beds, I would get flogged by Edith. She would hit me with a belt or an
electric jug cord. Usually a flogging involved being hit many times, and I would end up with
bruises and swelling. Usually I was hit across the back of the legs. Sometimes we would rotate
around the jobs. So I might change to cleaning the bathroom, or shining shoes.
Signatur, A IH
Witness: .... ... ~~ ....... ..... ... . .
shelley.napper
Sticky Note
None set by shelley.napper
shelley.napper
Sticky Note
MigrationNone set by shelley.napper
shelley.napper
Sticky Note
Unmarked set by shelley.napper
STAT.0343.001.0003_R
Statement in the matter of Bethcar Children's Home Page 3of7 Statement of • continued
Sexual abuse at Bethcar Children's Home
14. One morning, a girl had wet her bed. I knew she would get a hiding with the strap or a jug cord if
this was discovered, so I decided to hide the soiled sheets and put clean sheets on her bed. After I
had finished, Colin entered the bedroom and grabbed me. He touched my boobs and then he
pushed me under the bed. He kept touching my boobs and rubbing my vagina on the outside of
my underpants. I remember that I heard the sound of someone approaching and Colin stopped. I
was scared. I thought I would be safe at Bethcar, but after this incident, I knew that I was not safe.
15. I was in absolute shock and I did not /<now what to do.
16. Immediately afterwards, I attended a bible reading class that Colin was leading. I was so
embarrassed that I could not look at him. Thereafter, wl1en I saw Colin around Bethcar I would feel
sick. I was about 12 years old at the time.
17. I told my Auntie about what happened and she said words to the effect of, "Do not worry about if':
I !<new she was right because I believe if I had told someone, I would just get a hiding.
18. I did not tell anyone about what happened. I had heard other girls say that they had been touched
inappropriately and seen them get a hiding for saying it. No one believed the girls. All the grown
ups at Bethcar, Bert, Edie, Colin or mill, would say words to the effect of, "She is lying".
Physical abuse at Bethcar Children's Home
19. I remember Bert, Edie, or mill would regularly give us hidings, usually for minor things like not
doing as we were asked. We might be asked to wash the laundry with an old hand-operated
washing machine. One of the parts used to come off and it was hard to use. If I complained that I
couldn't do it, they would flog me and say, "Yes you can." I tried to stay out of trouble.
20. Before I arrived at BetlJCar, I could get away from people who I thought might hurt me, as I could
go to another house where I thought I was safe. At Bethcar, however, I could not go anywhere.
Colin would prowl the halls at night and I could hear him walking around. I would hide under my