Lawyers launch investigation into child sex abuse claims at De La Salle College by Brother Anselm
An elite Catholic boys’ school in Melbourne’s leafy southeast is the latest to be rocked by allegations of historic child sex abuse, with lawyers investigating the claims urging possible victims to come forward.
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An elite Catholic boys’ school in Malvern is the latest to be rocked by allegations of historical child sex abuse that have plagued the church in recent years.
Jason Parkinson of Porters Lawyers said he was investigating claims of abuse at De La Salle College by one man, Brother Anselm, between 1960 and 1989, after complaints were made by former students at the Revesby Catholic school in New South Wales where Anselm also worked.
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Anselm — also known as Tom Hallam — died in the 1990s but the full scale of his offending was still coming to light, Mr Parkinson said.
Former teachers at De La Salle in Malvern have told Mr Parkinson they raised concerns about Anselm with the De La Salle Brothers at the time, but the brothers refused to act.
When Anselm ’s predatory behaviour became too much to ignore, he was shuffled off to Revesby where he “destroyed” children’s lives, they said.
“He was a serial paedophile who has many victims,” Mr Parkinson said. “The order knew he was a risk but they still allowed him access (to children).”
Mr Parkinson encouraged anyone with information about Anselm to contact his office.
De La Salle Principal Peter Houlihan said up to eight former students approached him directly to complain about abuse they allegedly suffered at the hands of another De La Salle Brother, Brother Ibar, also known as Frank Keating, who sentenced to five years and three months in jail for indecently assaulting eight students during the 1970s.
He said no one has approached him about Brother Anselm, who he said taught at the former St Joseph’s Boys School in Stanhope St, adjacent to the college, and the precursor to St Joseph’s Primary School.
But he said there was no denying the fact boys from De La Salle were abused and he “unreservedly” apologised for the “abhorrent sins of the past”.
“We’ve unreservedly and wholeheartedly apologised … we just have to acknowledge this is a terribly shameful period in our history.”
He said the school was “100 per cent committed” to the safety of children in its care and there were a number of measures in place to ensure what happened with Brother Anselm never happened again.
In a statement to the Leader, the De La Salle Brothers said they “fully acknowledge” staff committed criminal abuse against children in the past and were “unreserved in our apology”.
“We also recognise that past responses to complaints about institutional abuse were not appropriate and we apologise for that,” the statement read.
“The De La Salle Brothers will continue to work to provide some healing through counselling, apology and monetary compensation to those who have experienced abuse in any of our facilities.”
The statement encouraged any person with experience of abuse to contact the police.
For more information, visit the Porters Lawyers website at porterslawyers.com.au
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