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IN NOVEMBER 2012, news of a Royal Commission into the Catholic Church’s cover up of child abuse was announced by then-Prime Minister Julia Gillard.
At the time, the Bega District News spoke with a Bega Valley man who was abused at the hands of the Marist brothers as an 11-year-old.
John (not his real name) has again come forward to express great sympathy for the victims of confessed Tathra paedophile Maurice Van Ryn.
John said the reports of child sexual abuse in the local area involving a prominent business identity was greatly disturbing, as was information about the bail conditions.
He said he was "dumbfounded" bail was granted in the first place, "appalled" to hear he had offended again while on bail and now "very relieved" to hear his bail conditions have been revoked.
“To people who do not understand the true nature of the crime of child sexual abuse it could seem that bail is a reasonable thing, but as an individual who has battled with the consequences of abuse for 50 years I have little sympathy for the perpetrator, but a great deal for the victims,” John said.
“The reason for this is that as sick as the perpetrator may be, they still had a choice - they knew that what they were doing was wrong and harmful.
“It is the harm that is now being well understood largely as a consequence of the work of the Royal Commission into institutionalised child sexual abuse.
“There is nothing institutionalised in the local situation, however what is now understood better is the effect on victims.
“Paedophilia is a sinister crime.
“It is not just a crime involved of sexual behaviour, but a crime of betrayal.
“The child cannot be blamed.
“The child is emotionally inadequate and very vulnerable in the circumstance of being groomed by an adult who uses their position of trust to gain control.
“What is being taken from the victim is innocence and this is a cruelty that perpetrator ignores or minimises as they use their control to gratify their own sick desires.
“It is a complex psychological interplay in which to child will eventually discover that they have been betrayed.”
John said this betrayal is a hideous burden to inflict on a young and vulnerable person, a burden that can affect that person for the rest of their life.
“Only those who have had it happen to them can truly understand the impact of this burden.
“In my own case I tried unsuccessfully to compartmentalise what happened, to minimise its effects and to try to forget it and move on.
“The nature of the crime is difficult to come to terms for a young child/person and I was left asking what I had done to deserve this.
“So shame and guilt and feelings of unworthiness crept into my life and became barriers to successful relationships, created all manner of difficulties in adult life.”
John said unprocessed and untreated, the legacy of what had happened included anxiety, depression, hyper-vigilance and distrust.
However, these types of ongoing issues are now being well understood and he said the important thing is there is a lot that can be done to correct and manage the damage.
“From a societal point of view it is important that people understand the real nature and magnitude of the psychological injury cause by child sexual abuse,” John said.
“It is not understood when there is an attitude of ‘he or she was interfered with sexually’.
“What has to be acknowledged is that he or she has been interfered with psychologically and that this harm can be far reaching.
“My life has taught me that compartmentalising the harm or trying to minimise is the wrong way to go.
“I can only speak of what I have discovered for myself and I am not a doctor, a psychologist or a psychiatrist - but I believe that understanding, support and treatment are vitally important.
“With these things you can come to terms with what has happened and you can manage your life, find contentment and happiness.
“The sooner victims get the type of help they will need the better.
“I feel nothing but compassion for the local children who have been abused.”