Teens allegedly drugged, threatened, raped: ‘Organised Pedophile Ring’ operated In Magill Training Centre says lawyer

The number of alleged victims coming forward with allegations at the closed-down Magill Training Centre has “exploded” with horror stories of men claiming they were drugged and raped by guards.

The Magill Juvenile Detention Centre was allegedly the site of abuse perpetrated on boys by an “organised pedophile ring”.

The number of former inmates seeking compensation for alleged rapes and sexual assaults at a demolished SA youth detention centre has exploded and sparked calls for a full-scale government inquiry.

Lawyer Mal Byrne told the Sunday Mail the number of clients alleging abuse at Magill Training Centre had doubled to 24 in three months.

Mr Byrne said complainants allege they were “drugged, beaten or placed in sleeper holds to allow the guards to carry out their abuse” in what he says were “acts of unfathomable evil”.

He said the men alleged an “organised pedophile ring” led by a number of key offenders who placed boys in solitary confinement if they threatened to report the abuse.

Mr Byrne, from Shine Lawyers, said the alleged abuse, which continued until the institution closed in 2012, was the worst he heard about in all his years as a lawyer.

Mal Byrne from Shine Lawyers said the alleged abuse at the Magill Training Centre was the worst he has ever dealt with. Picture: Supplied

“What we’ve learnt through the victim-survivors we represent is that there was an organised pedophile ring operating there at times under the control of a number of key offenders,” he said.

He said compulsory showers on arrival and solitary confinement were used “to isolate boys to carry out their evil acts” and perpetrators showed boys porn “as a form of grooming”.

He said that guards acted together to set up and perpetuate the assaults and he had evidence that none of the inmates reported the abuse because whenever they threatened to tell, “they were assaulted” or placed in solitary confinement.

Mr Byrne said former inmates wanted the government to hold a dedicated inquiry into “the horrors of this institution to be examined fully”.

The centre was known initially as the Boys Reformatory Centre and was also called the McNally Training Centre and SA Youth Training Centre during its 143-year history.

Asked about an inquiry, a government spokeswoman told the Sunday Mail: “Anyone with allegations – or evidence – of criminal activity should report the matter to SAPOL”.

Originally published as Teens allegedly drugged, threatened, raped: ‘Organised Pedophile Ring’ operated In Magill Training Centre says lawyer