학대 피해자의 보상 청구에 맞서기 위해 기관이 사용하는 특별한 법적 전술

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학대 피해자의 보상 청구에 맞서기 위해 기관이 사용하는 특별한 법적 전술
포 코너스 / 루이스 밀리건, 메리 팰런, 제시카
Matt Barker는 11세 때부터 스카우트 리더에게 학대를 받았습니다. 그는 모든 부모가 그 이후로 그에게 무슨 일이 일어났는지 알기를 원합니다.(Four Corners: Jack Fisher)
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aatt Barker는 11세 때 처음으로 인생의 운이 다했습니다.

1979년이었고 그는 시드니 서부의 부시 블록에 있는 외로운 캐러밴에서 그의 순수함이 증발하면서 백그라운드에서 재생되는 Hey Hey It’s Saturday를 기억합니다.

“나는 여전히 첫 번째 학대가 시작되는 그 순간에 무언가가 내부를 뚫고 들어가는 것이 옳다는 매우 분명한 느낌을 가지고 있습니다. “라고 그는 말합니다.

3년 동안 그는 유죄 판결을 받은 상습 소아성애자인 스카우트 리더에게 반복적으로 학대를 받았습니다.

아동 성적 학대에 대한 제도적 대응에 대한 역사적인 왕립 위원회가 종료된 지 5년이 지난 지금 민사 보상을 요구하고 있는 Matt와 같은 생존자들은 조사 이전에는 거의 볼 수 없었던 특별한 법적 전술에 의해 좌절되고 있습니다.

법적 개혁을 통해 기관 아동 학대 피해자가 정의를 추구하는 것이 더 쉬워졌지만 이제 청구의 중심에 있는 조직이 일부 사례를 완전히 폐기하도록 추진하면서 치열한 새로운 전쟁터가 등장하고 있습니다.

Matt는 스카우트에 다니는 어린이의 모든 부모가 그에게 무슨 일이 일어났는지 알기를 원합니다. 그때가 아니라 지금 그가 자신을 보호해야 한다고 말하는 기관을 가져오기 위해 싸웠기 때문입니다.

스카우트 제복을 입은 어린 소년의 오래되고 노랗게 변한 이미지. 하나를 제외하고 모든 얼굴이 픽셀화됩니다.
Matt는 “아직도 아주 분명한 느낌이 듭니다. 뭔가 내부가 뚫린 것 같은 느낌이 듭니다.”라고 Matt는 말합니다.(제공: Matt Barker)
스카우트
70년대 후반과 80년대 초반에 학대를 당한 지 거의 40년이 지난 Matt는 가해자가 유죄를 인정한 역사적 제도적 학대의 몇 안 되는 생존자 중 한 명이 되었습니다.

2020년 6월, 그 남자는 Matt와 관련된 24건의 혐의뿐만 아니라 같은 스카우트 부대의 다른 세 소년을 학대한 추가 범죄도 인정했습니다.

Matt가 평생 동안 겪은 고통에 대해 보상하기 위해 민사 소송을 제기했을 때, 60대에 감옥에 있는 가해자는 스카우트가 그러한 일이 발생하지 않도록 더 많은 일을 했어야 했다고 주장하는 증거를 기꺼이 제시했습니다.

현재 55세인 Matt는 그것이 간단한 경우라고 생각했습니다.

그는 틀렸다.

올해 4월, NSW 대법관 Peter Garling은 법조계를 통해 충격파를 보낸 Matt 사건에 대한 판결을 내렸습니다.

그는 Scouts NSW에 영구 체류를 허용하여 사건이 법정에 회부되는 것을 막고 소아성애자로 유죄 판결을 받은 피해자인 Matt에게 Scouts의 법적 비용을 책임지게 했습니다.

“당신은 결정에 대한 분노로 떨고 있습니다. “라고 Matt는 말합니다.

“당신은 매일 눈물을 흘리며 버티려고 노력하고 있습니다.

“그 비용을 충당하는 것은 말 그대로 집을 잃고 파산에 직면한다는 것을 의미합니다. 그래서 다음에 무엇을 해야할지 모르겠습니다.”

한 남자가 벽돌 건물 앞에 서서 먼 곳을 내다본다.
학대자는 Matt와 관련된 24가지 혐의와 Scout 부대의 다른 세 명의 소년과 관련된 추가 혐의에 대해 유죄를 인정했습니다.(Four Corners: Jack Fisher)
영주권은 사건이 한 당사자에게 너무 억울할 정도로 불공평하여 절차 남용으로 간주되는 예외적인 상황에서만 법원에 의해 부여됩니다. 그러나 원고측 변호사들은 이제 그들이 정기적으로 위협을 받고 보상을 받는 것을 보고 있다고 말합니다.

Four Corners는 공정한 재판을 보장받을 수 없다고 주장하는 스카우트, 부유한 사립 학교, 가톨릭 종교 명령 및 교구, 심지어 퀸즐랜드 주를 포함한 다양한 기관에서 체류를 찾거나 위협하는 것을 목격했습니다.

귀하 또는 귀하가 아는 사람이 도움이 필요한 경우:
13 11 14의 라이프라인
키즈 헬프라인 1800 551 800
MensLine 오스트레일리아, 1300 789 978
1300 659 467의 자살 콜백 서비스
Beyond Blue 1300 224 636 또는 COVID-19 지원 서비스 1800 512 348
1800 650 890의 헤드스페이스
au.reachout.com에서 연락하세요.
Care Leavers Australasia Network(CLAN) 1800 008 774
형제간 1800 435 799
일부 변호사는 기관이 우리의 사법 제도 하에서 공정한 재판을 받을 권리를 행사할 뿐이라고 말하면서 이 관행을 옹호하는 반면, 다른 변호사는 기관이 피해자에게 적절한 보상을 하지 않도록 하는 허점이라고 생각하는 것에 대해 비판적입니다.

이 메커니즘은 가해자로 추정되는 사람이 사망하거나 치매에 걸렸을 때 기관에서 자주 사용하기 때문에 “죽은 사람의” 방어라고도 합니다.

그러나 Matt의 경우 학대자는 매우 살아 있습니다.

Garling 판사가 Matt의 사건에 대한 체류를 허용한 이유에는 시간의 경과(1979년에서 1982년 사이에 발생한 범죄)와 당시 Scouts NSW를 담당했던 주요 증인이 사망했다는 사실이 포함되었습니다.

판사는 또한 가해자가 증거를 제출할 의지가 있다고 말했습니다.

스카우트가 그를 막기 위해 더 많은 조치를 취했어야 했던 것은 이기적인 행동이었습니다.

왕실 위원회에 이어 주 의회는 과거의 성적 학대 사건을 가져오는 사람들이 이전에 대부분의 피해자(일반적으로 학대 후 몇 년 후에 나오는)가 소송을 제기할 수 없도록 했던 공소 시효에서 면제되도록 했습니다.

비슷한 시기인 2018년에 Scouts NSW는 조직이 “성적 학대를 당한 청구인에게 소송이 충격적인 경험이 될 가능성을 염두에 두겠다”는 정책 문서를 발표했습니다.

이 문서는 또한 조직이 “소송 없이 합법적인 청구를 지불”하고 “조기 합의를 촉진”하는 것을 고려할 것이라고 맹세했습니다.

한 남자가 정원에 앉아 카메라를 쳐다본다. 그는 슬픈 표정을 지었다.
Matt는 소송이 그가 이미 겪은 학대의 영향을 더욱 가중시켰다고 말합니다.(Four Corners: Jack Fisher)
Matt는 자신의 주장에 대한 반응이 “완전히 반대”라고 말했습니다.

“스카우트는 조기 합의보다 내가 겪은 학대의 영향을 더하는 길고 비용이 많이 드는 소송을 선택했습니다.”라고 그는 말합니다.

“그들은 저를 다시 희생시키고 있습니다. 말로 표현할 수 없는 잔인함으로 저를 대하고 있습니다.”

Four Corners가 오늘 밤 8시 30분에 ABC TV와 ABC iview에서 학대 피해자의 보상 청구에 맞서 싸우기 위해 사용되는 특별한 법적 전술을 폭로하기 위해 배후에서 진행되는 것을 지켜보십시오.

왕실 위원회 조사 결과와 일관성 유지: 변호사
기관을 위해 활동한 변호사 Geoffrey Watson SC는 영구 체류는 왕실 위원회가 권장한 것과 완벽하게 일치하며 최종 보고서에 언급되었다고 말했습니다.

“일반적으로 최악의 문제는 증인이 없다는 것입니다. 사람들이 사망하고, 사람들이 병약해지고, 이에 대응할 수 없습니다.”라고 그는 청구인에 대해 기관이 보관하는 기록이 종종 분실되거나 파괴된다고 덧붙였습니다.

그러나 역사적 기관 학대 사건을 전문으로 하는 시드니 변호사 제임스 마주르는 영주권은 왕실 위원회의 최종 보고서의 각주에 지나지 않으며 조사 전에는 사용된 적이 없다고 말했습니다.

양복을 입은 한 남자가 카메라를 깊이 바라보고 있고, 그 뒤에는 책장이 있습니다.
시드니 법정 변호사 James Masur는 역사적 제도적 학대 사건에서 생존자들을 대리하는 것을 전문으로 합니다.(Four Corners: Nick Wiggins)
그는 주장에 대한 많은 기관의 반응이 “공개적으로 표현된 것과 너무 다르다”는 것이 실망스럽다고 말했습니다.

“저는 개인적으로 생존자들의 곤경에 감동을 받았으며 아동 학대뿐만 아니라 법적 장벽이 생존자들에게 미치는 파괴적인 영향을 직접 목격했습니다.”

Mr Masur는 영주권 위협의 유입을 목격한 사람들 중 하나입니다. “사망한 학대자, 학대 혐의자 또는 허약한 학대 혐의자가 있는 특정 조직에서는 그러한 사실이 존재하는 거의 모든 경우에 위협을 받고 있습니다.”

2022년 12월 Matt의 변호사 Peter Karp는 Mark Dreyfus 법무장관에게 보낸 편지에서 Scouts NSW가 “가해자를 포함하여 2,000페이지의 역사적 기록과 건전한 정신과 기억에 대한 30명의 목격자의 혜택”에도 불구하고 체류를 요청했다고 썼습니다. .

Karp 씨는 “[Matt의] 학대에 대한 목격자와 두 명의 경향 목격자”가 있었다고 말했습니다. 즉, 동일한 가해자에게 학대를 당한 다른 두 사람이 있었습니다.

Karp 씨는 Matt가 비용을 지불해야 한다는 전망에 대해 심각한 불안을 겪고 있다고 덧붙였습니다.

2022년에 발표된 재무제표에 따르면 NSW 스카우트의 순자산은 약 1억 8,700만 달러에 이릅니다. 이 단체는 인터뷰 요청을 여러 차례 거절했습니다.

스카우트 NSW는 성명에서 매트가 끔찍한 범죄의 피해자임을 인정하고 그에게 서면 및 구두 사과를 했다고 밝혔다.

“Scouts NSW는 그의 민사 청구를 해결하기 위해 Mr Barker와 적극적으로 참여했습니다. 불행히도 그러한 중재 시도는 실패했습니다.”라고 말했습니다.

양복과 안경을 쓴 남자 사진의 측면.
Geoffrey Watson SC는 영주권을 요청한 기관을 위해 활동했으며 왕실 위원회의 조사 결과와 일치한다고 말했습니다.(AAP: Ben Rushton)
학대가 발생했을 가능성이 높은 경우에도 영구 체류가 적절한 경우가 있다고 Watson 씨는 주장합니다.

“일반적으로 가해자를 고소하는 것이 아니라 다른 사람을 고소하고 ‘가해자의 행동에 책임이 있습니다’라고 말합니다.”라고 그는 말합니다.

“그것은 궁극적인 피고인이 공정한 재판을 받을 수 없다는 것을 의미할 수 있으며, 가해자가 죄를 지을 수 있다는 사실에도 불구하고 말입니다.”

교구
원고가 삼키는 것은 쓴 약입니다.

Masur 씨의 고객 중 한 명은 NSW Northern Tablelands에 있는 Armidale의 가톨릭 교구를 상대로 소송을 제기한 First Nations 여성인 Miimi입니다.

Miimi는 소아성애자로 유죄 판결을 받은 David Perrett 신부에게 어린 시절 강간을 당했다고 주장합니다.

“트라우마는 그것이 느꼈던 것에 대해 충분히 강한 단어가 아닙니다. “라고 Miimi는 말합니다.

“세상에 대한 나의 모든 안전감은 사라졌고, 나는 어떤 것도 신뢰하지 않았다.

The extraordinary legal tactics institutions are using to fight compensation claims by abuse victims

Four Corners

 / By Louise MilliganMary Fallon, and Jessica Longbottom

Posted 5h ago5 hours ago, updated 2m ago2 minutes ago

A man sits on an outdoor sofa, with surfboards in the background. He has a sad expression.
Matt Barker was abused by his Scout leader from the age of 11. He wants every parent to know what has happened to him since.(Four Corners: Jack Fisher)

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Matt Barker was 11 years old the first time his life’s luck ran out.

It was 1979 and he remembers Hey Hey It’s Saturday playing in the background as his innocence evaporated in a lonely caravan on a bush block in Sydney’s west.

“I still have a very clear feeling of right at that moment of the first abuse beginning, of just something breaking inside,” he says.

Over three years he was repeatedly abused by his Scout leader, a convicted, recidivist paedophile.

Five years after the historic Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse wrapped up, survivors like Matt who are now seeking civil compensation are being thwarted by extraordinary legal tactics rarely seen before the inquiry.

Legal reforms made it easier for victims of institutional child abuse to seek justice, but now a fierce new battleground is emerging as organisations at the centre of the claims push to have some cases thrown out altogether.

Matt wants every parent of a child attending Scouts to know what happened to him — not then, but now, as he has fought to bring the institution he says should have protected him to justice.

An old, yellowed, image of young boys in scout uniforms. All the faces are pixelated, except one.
“I still have a very clear feeling … of just something breaking inside,” Matt says.(Supplied: Matt Barker)

The Scouts

Almost four decades after he was abused in the late 70s and early 80s, Matt became one of the few survivors of historical institutional abuse whose perpetrator pleaded guilty.

In June 2020, the man admitted not just to 24 charges relating to Matt, but also to further offences of abusing three other boys in the same Scouts troop.

When Matt sought civil action to compensate him for the lifetime of pain caused, the perpetrator — who is in his 60s and in jail — was even willing to give evidence arguing that the Scouts should have done more to stop it from happening.

Matt, now 55, assumed it would be a straightforward case.

He was wrong.

In April this year, NSW Supreme Court Justice Peter Garling delivered a judgment in Matt’s case that sent shock waves through the legal community.

He awarded a permanent stay to Scouts NSW, preventing the case from ever going to court and made Matt — the victim of a convicted paedophile — liable for the Scouts’ legal costs.

“You’re shaking, trembling with anger about the decision,” Matt says.

“You’re trying to get through each day, just on the verge of tears.

“Meeting those costs would literally mean I lose my house and face bankruptcy. So, I don’t know what to do next.”

A man stands in front of a brick building and looks off into the distance.
The abuser pleaded guilty to 24 charges relating to Matt, and to further charges related to three other boys in the Scout troop.(Four Corners: Jack Fisher)

Permanent stays are only granted by the courts in exceptional circumstances, when a case is considered so oppressively unfair to one party that it’s an abuse of process. But plaintiff lawyers say they are now seeing them being threatened and awarded regularly.

Four Corners has seen stays sought or threatened by a range of institutions, including the Scouts, wealthy private schools, Catholic religious orders and dioceses and even the State of Queensland, who argue they cannot be guaranteed a fair trial.

If you or anyone you know needs help:

While some lawyers defend this practice — saying the institutions are just exercising their right to a fair trial under our judicial system — others are critical of what they see as a loophole that avoids institutions having to properly compensate victims.

The mechanism is sometimes referred to as the “dead man’s” defence because it’s often employed by institutions when the alleged perpetrator has died or has dementia.

In Matt’s case, however, his abuser is very much alive.

Justice Garling’s reasons for granting the stay in Matt’s case included the passage of time — the offences happened between 1979 and 1982 — and the fact that key witnesses who were in charge of Scouts NSW at the time had died.

The judge also said the perpetrator’s willingness to give evidence that the Scouts should have done more to stop him was self-serving.

Following the royal commission, state parliaments made people bringing historical sexual abuse cases exempt from the Statute of Limitations, which had previously prevented most victims — who typically come forward many years after their abuse — from being able to sue.

Around the same time, in 2018, Scouts NSW released a policy document, saying the organisation would “be mindful of the potential for litigation to be a traumatic experience for claimants who have suffered sexual abuse”. 

The document also vowed that the organisation would consider “paying legitimate claims without litigation” and “facilitating an early settlement”.

A man sits and looks at the camera in a garden. He has a sad expression.
Matt says the litigation has compounded the impact of the abuse he already suffered.(Four Corners: Jack Fisher)

Matt says the response to his claim has been the “complete opposite”.

“Rather than early settlement, Scouts have opted for lengthy and expensive litigation that compounds the impact of the abuse that I suffered,” he says.

“They’re re-victimising me; they’re treating me with unspeakable cruelty.”

Watch as Four Corners goes behind the scenes to expose the extraordinary legal tactics being used to fight compensation claims by abuse victims tonight at 8:30 on ABC TV and ABC iview.

Stays consistent with royal commission findings: barrister

Barrister Geoffrey Watson SC, who has acted for institutions, says permanent stays are perfectly consistent with what the royal commission recommended and that they were mentioned in its final report.

“Typically, the worst problem is the absence of witnesses … people have died, people have become infirm and they’re unable to respond to it,” he says, adding that records kept by institutions about claimants have often been lost or destroyed.

But Sydney barrister James Masur, whose busy practice specialises in historical institutional abuse cases, says permanent stays were little more than a footnote in the royal commission’s final report and they were never used before the inquiry.

A man in a suit looks deeply at the camera, behind him are bookshelves.
Sydney barrister James Masur specialises in representing survivors in historical institutional abuse cases.(Four Corners: Nick Wiggins)

He says it’s disappointing that many institutions’ response to claims “is so different to what has been publicly expressed”.

“I’m personally moved by the plight of survivors and have seen firsthand the devastating effect not only child abuse has, but the deployment of legal barriers has on survivors.”

Mr Masur is among those seeing an influx of permanent stay threats. “From particular organisations where there is a dead abuser, alleged abuser or an infirm alleged abuser, they are almost in every case where those facts exist, being threatened.”

In December 2022, Matt’s lawyer, Peter Karp, wrote in a letter to Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus that Scouts NSW sought the stay despite “having the benefit of 2,000 pages of historical records and 30 witnesses of sound mind and memory, including the perpetrator”.

There was, Mr Karp noted, “an eyewitness to [Matt’s] abuse, and two tendency witnesses” — that is, two other people who were abused by the same perpetrator.

Mr Karp added that Matt has suffered severe anxiety over the prospect of having to pay costs.

Scouts NSW has net assets worth about $187 million, according to a financial statement published in 2022. The organisation declined multiple requests for an interview.

In a statement, Scouts NSW said the organisation acknowledged Matt was the victim of an abhorrent crime and has offered written and verbal apologies to him.

“Scouts NSW has actively engaged with Mr Barker in attempts to resolve his civil claim. Unfortunately, those attempts to mediate failed,” it said.

A side on photo of a man in a suit and glasses.
Geoffrey Watson SC has acted for institutions that have sought permanent stays, and says they are consistent with the royal commission’s findings.(AAP: Ben Rushton)

Even when there’s a high probability that the abuse occurred, Mr Watson argues there are some cases where permanent stays are appropriate.

“Normally, you’re not suing the perpetrator, you’re suing somebody else and saying, ‘You are responsible for the acts of the perpetrator’,” he says.

“Which might mean that the ultimate defendant is not capable of getting a fair trial, and that’s despite the fact that the perpetrator may be guilty as sin.”

The diocese

It’s a bitter pill for plaintiffs to swallow.

One of Mr Masur’s clients is Miimi, a First Nations woman who has brought a claim against the Catholic Diocese of Armidale in the NSW Northern Tablelands.

Miimi alleges she was raped as a child by convicted paedophile Father David Perrett.

“Trauma is not a strong enough word for what it felt like,” Miimi says.

“My whole sense of safety in the world disappeared, and I had no trust in anyone.”

A woman wearing a black shirt stands amongst gum trees and looks off into the distance.
Miimi alleges she was raped as a child by a convicted paedophile priest.(Four Corners: Louie Eroglu ACS)

In 1973, four-year-old Miimi was sent to St Patricks, an imposing gothic orphanage in Armidale, which she describes as “like something out of a horror movie”. It was run by the Sisters of Mercy.

Miimi alleges that from when she was five, Perrett would come into her dormitory at night. Sometimes he would take her upstairs to an attic room within the orphanage.

She told a counsellor about the alleged abuse in the 1990s but didn’t speak of it again until an Armidale detective came knocking.

“I just went so much inside of myself,” she says. “I just withdrew to this place inside of myself where nobody could really get in.”

Perrett was convicted in 1996 of abuse in relation to Aboriginal children in Walgett, a small town in northern NSW. Decades later, in 2018, he was charged with a further 139 offences against 40 children, including Miimi.

But six months before his trial was due to begin, Perrett died.

When Miimi decided to sue the Diocese of Armidale — citing Perrett’s 139 charges, a prior conviction, and multiple witnesses alleging his clear tendency to abuse Aboriginal children in the region — the diocese sought a permanent stay.

A woman wearing all black stands against a brick wall. Her expression is serious.
Miimi’s lawyer, Alessandra Pettit, is representing Perrett’s alleged victims from across NSW.(Four Corners: Louie Eroglu ACS)

“I was genuinely gobsmacked,” Miimi’s lawyer Alessandra Pettit says.

“He has a record of abusing other children and I really didn’t think that a wealthy institution would file a stay application on a First Nations woman’s case for being sexually abused as a child while she was in their care.

“It makes me question why taxpayers spent $370 million on a royal commission when we are almost what seems to be in pre-royal commission days.”

Ms Pettit is acting for a number of Perrett’s alleged victims from across NSW.

“You’ve got to give someone the opportunity to have a trial, because that is part of the healing and that is part of having the ability to stand up for the little girl or the little boy that they’re there for,” she says.

The Diocese of Armidale declined to comment on Miimi’s case because it is before the courts.

A close up image of a woman with curly hair and a black top.
Miimi says she is speaking up on behalf of Perrett’s other victims.(Four Corners: Louie Eroglu ACS)

Miimi, now 54, says she feels outmatched by the power and wealth of the institution.

“I’m expecting that nothing’s going to come out of it, that this is going to be eight years of my life of being re-triggered and re-traumatised, just to be bitterly let down,” she says.

“The reason why I’m talking to you today is for other victims, because I’m not the only one from that orphanage that is trying to bring that diocese to justice.

“I want their lives to mean something, to hold him and them accountable. It’s not okay that he hurt so many of us kids.”

Turning the tables

It’s not just permanent stays that survivors of institutional abuse say are frustrating their efforts to get justice.

In Josh Byrnes’ case, the Diocese of Lismore turned on his family.

He was abused by his father’s cousin Father Dennis Byrnes, who was revered by his Catholic family. The abuse began in 1999, when Josh was 12. He says it lasted for almost eight years.

A man sits in a garden and looks to the side of the camera.
When Josh sued the Diocese of Lismore, it responded by going after his family.(Four Corners: Louie Eroglu ACS)

Josh went to police in 2016 and Byrnes pleaded guilty to the charges against him.

It was revealed during proceedings that the diocese had known the priest was a danger to children 15 years before he began to abuse Josh.

Files found in the Lismore archives referenced that Byrnes had offended against another boy in similar circumstances in 1984.

When the first victim — by then an adult — came forward to the diocese under the Catholic Church’s Towards Healing scheme in 2006, Josh was still being abused by Byrnes.

The diocese paid the first victim compensation under that scheme in 2009.

But when Josh commenced legal action against the diocese, he was horrified by their response.

The Diocese of Lismore argued that Josh’s aunt, Joanne Byrnes, was partially responsible for leaving Josh alone with her cousin. Byrnes was a welcome visitor in Joanne’s home when Josh and his siblings would stay with her on school holidays.

A teenage boy poses with his arm around the shoulder of a smiling woman.
Josh and Joanne in 2005.(Supplied: Josh Byrnes)

“All of a sudden I get a phone call one afternoon from Joshua’s lawyers … saying there’s a cross-claim coming against me, that it was my negligence because I should have reasonably foreseen that a priest would have abused a child,” Joanne says.

“That I could be up for compensation, interest, all the costs and anything else the court deems.”

She found out later that the diocese was aware of Byrnes’s earlier crimes by the time he abused Josh.

When asked how she would characterise what the diocese did to her and Josh, Joanne is blunt: “Evil is the first word that comes to me.”

“The evidence clearly showed that they were aware of what he was like, that he was a predator, and for them to turn around and suggest to my auntie, it should have been foreseeable to her, that this might happen, seems extremely hypocritical,” Josh says.

“It just seemed like they were just not interested in people, just not interested in us and who we were, or what we’d been through.”

A man and a woman sit next to each other on an outdoor sofa.
Joanne, Josh’s aunt, describes the church’s conduct as “evil”.(Four Corners: Louie Eroglu ACS)

The Diocese of Lismore eventually agreed to dismiss its cross-claim against Joanne and settled with Josh.

In a statement, the diocese said it was unable to comment on the case.

‘Pretty words that have no meaning’

At the close of the royal commission, institutions spoke words of contrition and remorse. They promised survivors a different future.

Catholic bishops described “a catastrophic failure of leadership” and “a kind of criminal negligence”.

The Scouts said they had “a responsibility to survivors of abuse” that they would “honour”.

Josh remembers watching those apologies. “Sometimes I wish I didn’t,” he says. “It just makes me so angry. All these PR people say these pretty words that actually have no meaning.”

Survivors and their lawyers are currently anxiously awaiting a crucial High Court case that will hear whether an institution can use a permanent stay in circumstances where the perpetrator has died.

The case, GLJ v The Diocese of Lismore, is scheduled for June 8.

A man wearing a suit looks at a book, surrounded by folders in his office. There is a view of Sydney in the background.
James Masur believes legislative reform is the only way to reverse the influx of permanent stays.(Four Corners: Nick Wiggins)

But lawyers like James Masur feel that legislative reform is the only way to stop the tide of permanent stays.

Sitting outside the NSW Supreme Court, Matt is desperately worried about how he’s going to afford the legal costs to appeal the decision.

“I don’t know how I’m going to gather the financial resources to do that,” he says. “I don’t know how I’m going to gather the emotional and psychological resources to do that. But I just have to.”

He has set up a crowd-sourced fundraiser, and says his case is a “perfect example of why the law needs to be changed”.

“What the legislators need to do is change the laws so organisations can’t behave like that.”

Watch Four Corners’ investigation into how institutions are thwarting child abuse victims’ fight for justice tonight at 8:30 on ABC TV and ABC iview.

Posted 5h ago5 hours ago, updated 2m ago