Amongst the growing amount of public acknowledgment, that âthose foreign cases of #childabuseâ are in fact happening within their own neighbourhood, at their own school, or âworst stillâ to their own children – itâs understandable that some parentâs concerns wonât be for that safety of their own victimised child, but for themselves to be able to reclaim âwasted moniesâ. As we now live in a consumerist society, occasionally we hear of broken families, where their sole-concern is in filling their own hip pockets with some of that đ°, as fractures often occur in these horse-or-cart structures. (Experienced Satire)
As examples of some Private/Elite schools in Brisbane whoâve offered out some damages-compensation-(not hush money), here are some examples + links:
As these were just a handful of examples of how a church-founded country of Australia, can be dealing with immersed control of a tax-free body, whilst still battling for equal rights of colonial-Indigenous after-effects – there are many more layers to unpack!
Prison records of Dennis Douglas.(ABC News: Lewi Hirvela)
More worrying though, Douglas was the subject of current and very serious child abuse complaints relating to the three-year-old son of young Brisbane single mother, Jane Henderson*.
Sergeant Danslow tracked down Ms Henderson who revealed how she had allegedly been lured into the web of Douglas and, in turn, McLaughlin.
In 1997, during a night out in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley, Ms Henderson said she met McLaughlin’s heroin-addicted driver and began seeing him socially.
He bragged to her about the “wonderful” Christian Brothers and how they helped him through some bad times, according to her police statement sighted by the ABC.
Ms Henderson said the man took her and her young son *Bruce to meet McLaughlin.
She said the Christian Brother expressed sympathy for her travails as a single mother and thought her two-year-old son Bruce “was wonderful”.
Ms Henderson said Brother McLaughlin introduced her to Dennis Douglas.(Supplied)
Later McLaughlin allegedly introduced her to Douglas who appeared personable and trustworthy and soon became close friends with Ms Henderson who let him babysit Bruce.
During the school holidays she allowed Douglas to take Bruce to the Christian Brothers’ beach house at Tugun on the Gold Coast.
Accompanying the pair were Ms Henderson’s two younger brothers â both in their early teens â and one of their young teenage friends.
On their return, it was clear something horrific occurred, according to Ms Henderson.
Her younger brother was in a rage, telling her that one of the boys had tried to run away and Douglas had behaved weirdly and was a “feeler” and a “groper”.
She noticed sexualised behaviour by Bruce and some injuries.
Furious, Ms Henderson went to police who arrested Douglas on child abuse charges.
When interviewed by police, Douglas confessed to some of the child abuse and claimed he had sexual interactions with McLaughlin, according to Sergeant Danslow.
Supporting aspects of Douglas’s story were extensive diaries he had kept over the past decade chronicling his regular contact with McLaughlin.
No direct admissions of Douglas’s child abuse crimes were evident in the neat handwritten entries, but they appeared to document Douglas’s extensive involvement with the children of disadvantaged families via his association with McLaughlin.
McLaughlin’s lawyers said their client didn’t know until “approximately 1998” that Douglas had been through the courts and pled guilty to child abuse.
They also stated that when their client became aware of Douglas entering school grounds, a directive was issued to Douglas in 1991, not to enter without first contacting the school and seeking authority from college officials.
But the diaries appeared to show that Douglas had the run of Nudgee College for years, often interacting with students on the campus well after 1991.
In one entry from December 3, 1992, Douglas described a visit to Nudgee where he associated with boarders.
Another entry in 1997 described Douglas taking one of the young boys he was later accused of abusing “for a tour” of school grounds.
GFXb_Brother_Document_V2
How the Christian Brother allegedly assisted the child molester
Importantly, the diaries contained references to McLaughlin dispatching Douglas to meet or “help” single mothers who usually had young male children.
“Steve told me last night that I might be able to help a young 26-year-old lady who is an alcoholic. And needs support,” Douglas wrote on January 13, 1997.
“I’m over willing to help her, she has two boys, eight and six years.”
The detective now suspected that at the very least McLaughlin was exposing highly vulnerable children to the likes of Douglas.
Queensland Police Officer discussing Nudgee college(ABC News: Alice Pavlovic)
The diaries provided clues to the children’s identities. One entry cited a “Dion” and his three brothers alongside an address on Brisbane’s northside.
Sergeant Danslow located Dion and his brothers in the care of their addict single mother.
The boys had been getting support from McLaughlin but with their mother battling addiction and a boyfriend who had just been in the justice system, obtaining evidence was impossible, Sergeant Danslow said.
The ABC recently found Dion living in country Victoria.
He alleged McLaughlin and Douglas had a close association with his family.
Chain smoking and emotional, the recovering alcoholic and former foster child is still angry about how he says his family were allegedly targeted by the two men.
“Mum and Dad ⌠they only had us kids back then, probably to get the money,” he said.
“I lived in a shed in the back yard. I made it my own. I was sick of the yelling and fighting in the house.”
Dion says he is still angry about how his family was allegedly targeted by Dennis Douglas and Brother McLaughlin.(ABC News: Sarah Lording)Dion said Brother McLaughlin offered to help his family.(ABC News: Sandra Lording)Brother McLaughlin allegedly showered Dion and his family with gifts.(ABC News: Sandra Lording)
Dion said he went to live with his mother when his parents split up but when he tried to stop her new boyfriend from hitting her, she headbutted him in the face, breaking his nose, and her boyfriend then hurled him through a wall.
“Our parents didn’t care at all. I don’t remember ever seeing a social worker about any of this,” he said.
But someone who did show up to help was Brother McLaughlin.
“I didn’t like him from the start. He used to make my younger brothers sit on his lap. I’d been abused in foster care (in Victoria) and I knew what was going on,” Dion said.
He said the Christian Brother showered gifts on the four boys and their mother who struggled to care for them.
Dion said McLaughlin took them to stay in motels and to a house within the grounds of Nudgee College during the school holidays, but he did not witness any abuse.
He said they were also left alone in the company of Douglas, who told them he often acted as a driver for McLaughlin.
“I knew he (Douglas) was a paedophile. He drove around with me sitting in the front seat and I could see him masturbating,” Dion said.
In May 1997, Douglas offered to take Dion, his brothers and one of their teenage friends to his family’s farm at Mapleton in the Sunshine Coast hinterland.
Dion said he didn’t go due to his suspicions of Douglas, but the other children did.
During the stay one of Dion’s brothers said they woke to see Douglas trying to sexually assault their young friend.
Angry and scared, the boys panicked and fled, according to Dion.
Dion Ball sitting with cigarette smoke going up into the air.(ABC News: Sandra Lording)
The suspect who was one step ahead
Meanwhile, Sergeant Danslow was on the trail of another family he suspected of being involved with McLaughlin and Douglas but he couldn’t get the family to talk.
GFXb_NOLb_BrothersCopIV_1905
Sergeant Danslow turned his focus to Douglas who agreed to assist in the police investigation, alleging he was manipulated by Brother McLaughlin after reconnecting with him as an adult.
Sergeant Danslow had Douglas make a covertly recorded phone call to the Christian Brother.
During the call, the pair discussed Douglas being under investigation for abusing Ms Henderson’s son.
No admissions were made by McLaughlin but he allegedly encouraged Douglas to withhold information from the police, according to transcripts of the calls.
“Be careful with that (the information in the diaries) because that might be used in evidence ⌠you should take things out that you don’t want to be there ⌠because just get rid of it,” McLaughlin said.
The secretly recorded phone calls suggested Brother McLaughlin knew about the investigation
The pair also discussed how McLaughlin had lent Douglas money, how they had been away together and whether police knew.
When Douglas said it was “just over night”, McLaughlin replied: “Just generally a day and a night together, were they (the police) implying that I might have been one of the bad guys or something like that you know?”
In a second call on December 7, 1997, McLaughlin asked Douglas if his mother thought the two had been involved in a sexual relationship.
Brother McLaughlin told Douglas to deny any sexual relationship.
Sergeant Danslow suspected McLaughlin knew about the police investigation.
Those suspicions were confirmed when he brought in the police’s surveillance team.
The plain clothes officers, who normally followed dangerous drug dealers, violent bikies or murderers, tailed the Christian Brother as he visited toy shops buying bikes and gifts for children.
Brother McLaughlin knew he was under surveillance.A police document linked Brother McLaughlin to Douglas.(Supplied)
During the surveillance, McLaughlin suddenly sped off down a remote country road, slammed on the brakes, leapt out of his car and started filming the undercover officers.
Annoyed, the team leader rang Sergeant Danslow.
“He knows. We’re finished here,” the leader said.
Shortly afterwards Sergeant Danslow received a call from McLaughlin’s lawyer who asked him if police were tailing his client.
“I said ‘you know I can’t say anything’.
“Well, if they are your people, they are not very good at it,” the lawyer said.
The rallying cry
While Sergeant Danslow knew McLaughlin was awake to the police investigation, he didn’t realise he was calling on some powerful allies â the alumni of Nudgee College.
Six days before the secretly recorded phone call with Douglas, McLaughlin stood to make an extraordinary address to the pupils, parents and old boys of Nudgee College at the school’s speech night.
Instead of only platitudes for high-achieving students, the speech turned into a desperate plea to the Nudgee faithful to reject allegations of paedophilia involving Christian Brothers.
“I’ve thrown away the speech I was going to give,” McLaughlin started.
“âŚwe are facing an orchestrated campaign where few individuals are systematically targeting and attempting to destroy the hard-won reputations of brother after brother,” he said.
He asked the audience to “fight for the Christian Brothers because we need you to support us in this time of real need.”
White statue on right side, Nudgee School in Brisbane.(ABC News: Michael Lloyd)
The call for help was heard at the highest levels of government. Twelve days later, then Liberal Federal Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs John Herron rose in the Senate in Canberra.
Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs John Herron supported Brother McLaughlin.(AAP: Andrew Sheargold)
The distinguished politician graciously thanked the Christian Brothers for his own education and then began reciting parts of McLaughlin’s speech before tabling it in its entirety.
Around the same time, Sergeant Danslow’s bosses started receiving calls from high-profile individuals asking “what’s Danslow doing to that good man?”
Furious, Sergeant Danslow fired off a transcript of the call between McLaughlin and Douglas to his boss and heard no more.
Rohypnol and a hangman’s noose
As the investigation progressed into 1999 another alleged victim came forward, also connected to Douglas.
David Wilson alleges he was abused by Brother Stephen McLaughlin as a teenager.(Supplied)
Teenager David Wilson* was a champion junior swimmer who attended a school in inner Brisbane and was living with his single mother.
Around May 1997, the schoolboy, then aged 15, attended a party at a New Farm restaurant where he says he met Douglas who later introduced him to McLaughlin.
Some days later, the teen was invited to stay the night at a Brisbane hotel with Douglas and McLaughlin where he alleged the Brother molested him in the motel spa and then later in the motel room, according to a copy of a statement he gave to police that was tendered in civil court proceedings.
Mr Wilson alleged Brother McLaughlin took him to Brisbane’s Coronation Motel where he was sexually abused.(Supplied)
He alleged he witnessed Douglas and McLaughlin also engage in sex. Mr Wilson alleged the Christian Brother then became infatuated with him.
“He told me he loved me. He promised to get me into a different school, a drama school in Sydney,” Mr Wilson told the ABC.
In exchange for clothing and money, which eventually totalled $20,000, Mr Wilson alleged he regularly met McLaughlin for sex, according to a police statement sighted by the ABC.
During one stay at the Coronation Motel, Mr Wilson alleged a surreal scene unfolded.
Out on the high-rise motel balcony, the then-teenager alleged the Christian Brother smoked marijuana in a bong before going inside to have sex with him.
David Wilson’s sister encouraged him to go to police. (Supplied)
Mr Wilson said he came forward with his allegations about McLaughlin because he was struggling emotionally after losing a friend to suicide.
Police had the teenager wear a listening device and meet McLaughlin in a coffee shop in Brisbane’s Queen Street mall.
Again, McLaughlin made no admissions during the secretly recorded conversation, but he allegedly handed over a Rohypnol “sleeping tablet” to Mr Wilson and confirmed he was digging dirt on investigating detectives.
“They’re not lily white people ⌠I’ve found out stuff about them,” McLaughlin said, according to a police transcript of the recording.
“I’ll go down fighting I’ll tell ya. Look there’ll be a few others if I go down.”
Queen St timelapse
Shortly after that meeting, police said a card featuring a hangman’s noose appeared outside Mr Wilson’s home with the caption “dead men on campus” â which Mr Wilson took as a threat.
Unbeknown to detectives, the Christian Brothers appeared to have launched their own campaign involving a surveillance operation on police and alleged victims.
A source previously close to McLaughlin claimed that private investigators did surveillance on detective Danslow and Mr Wilson, even filming the teenager having sex with another man in a Brisbane house.
By 2000, Sergeant Danslow’s three-year investigation failed to build a case against McLaughlin with Douglas’s involvement proving problematic.
Laws around child sex abuse in Queensland prevent the ABC from providing some details, but Douglas’s status as a self-confessed child abuser raised grave doubts about his credibility.
Police did bring indecent dealing charges against McLaughlin in relation to his alleged abuse of Mr Wilson, relying on Douglas as a witness.
But the Magistrate rejected the case noting that Douglas was not a credible witness and had given no evidence of sexual acts between Mr Wilson and McLaughlin, including when the trio were in the spa at the Coronation Motel.
The Magistrate did indicate there were some suspicious features such as visits to motels and matters relating to Mr Wilson’s phone. But he decided Mr Wilson was not a credible witness and had told a multiplicity of lies to many people.
In what was a standard job rotation, Sergeant Danslow was transferred to another squad, leaving him frustrated about the years of investigative work that failed to bring justice.
“There was some regret (about the transfer), but I felt sorry for the [alleged] victims,” he said.
The war room
Despite the investigation seemingly going nowhere, new complainants with allegations continued to come forward.
In April 2001, police were put in touch with Rosa Smith*, another struggling single mother who was known to Family Services.
Ms Smith said she had been receiving money and assistance from McLaughlin and some of her sons were given a free education at Nudgee College.
Ms Smith alleged that her two younger children, a boy and girl, had been abused by McLaughlin.
Police brought indecent dealing and rape charges against the Christian Brother.
Soon after, the family reported someone lurking outside their house taking photos and following the children.
Police were so concerned they started doing school drop off and pick-up and considered putting the family into witness protection.
Meanwhile, a war room of sorts was set up at an apartment at Kangaroo Point on the edge of Brisbane’s CBD to coordinate McLaughlin’s defence, according to sources linked to the operation.
A public relations specialist who did communications work for the Brisbane Catholic community and McLaughlin’s solicitor both operated out of the apartment, the source said.
Private investigators covertly filmed Ms Smith and her children, sources told the ABC.
Nudgee College said it was devastated to learn of the abuse allegations against Stephen McLaughlin.
At the committal hearing, McLaughlin’s barrister Bob Mulholland QC tried to have the charges dismissed on the grounds the allegations were “ludicrous and fantastic” and the female victim had been abused by older males prior to making the allegations.
Mr Mulholland told the court the family had already been exposed to a paedophile while a younger child behaved in a sexualised manner. He said there were discrepancies in the victims’ recollections and problems with the way police had interviewed the children.
Magistrate Terry Duroux committed Brother McLaughlin to face trial.
But in late 2002, Magistrate Terry Duroux committed McLaughlin to face trial.
McLaughlin’s distraught supporters reportedly wept in the court, but police were jubilant â years of investigations had paid off, or so they thought.
In early 2004 one of the investigating officers received an unusual call from the Justice Department.
The ABC understands the officer was told that videos of the children’s police interviews had been sent overseas by the defence for forensic examination and were found to be flawed.
The Justice Department dropped the case.
This month, a spokesperson for the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions said the then Director of Public Prosecutions, Leanne Clare QC, discontinued the case after consideration of advice supplied to her.
The Crown did not have reasonable prospects of success of conviction at trial based on the admissible evidence available to it at the time, the spokesperson said.
“The reliability of the three interviews was the subject of expert analysis concerning the questioning undertaken and the responses given. The Crown also obtained an expert report on their contents before the matter was discontinued.”
McLaughlin’s lawyers say this was another example of complainants not being credible.
Tracked down by the ABC last month, Ms Smith, who has since had extensive treatment for severe mental health issues, said she did not recall ever being told the reason the charges were dropped.
But she did remember being so angry she had to be dragged out of the Justice Department by security.
Stephen McLaughlin travelled to the Philippines in 2004.(christianbrothers.com.au)
“I had the kids waiting in the car and I had to go and tell them that what they went through was all for nothing,” she told the ABC.
Meanwhile, McLaughlin celebrated with a party at a city nightclub associated with a former Nudgee old boy and was welcomed back into the Brothers’ operations, according to two people who attended the event.
In 2004 McLaughlin was dispatched to the Philippines to scope out new ministry opportunities including potential school sites where he had contact with children. He then went on to hold various jobs with the Brothers including a communications role.
The influence and the power
It would take another decade before his behaviour came to police attention.
By 2015, McLaughlin was living at Sandgate in Brisbane’s outer eastern suburbs, when a new complainant came forward.
Do you know more?
If you have any information about this story, contact Callinan.Rory@abc.net.au.
This time the alleged victim was the son of a single father who worked nights. McLaughlin had struck up a friendship with the father and babysat the man’s sons.
The victim alleged that in 2015, when he was 12, McLaughlin sexually abused him in a suburban home. He was charged by police in 2019 over the allegations.
McLaughlin went on trial in March this year and a jury found him guilty of two counts of indecent dealing with the boy who had been left devastated by the abuse.
The victim “took drastic steps to numb his feelings” including inhaling substances and skipping school leaving him “jobless, depressed and angry”, sentencing Judge Anthony Rafter said.
He said the victim suffered immensely but ruled McLaughlin’s sentence be suspended due to ill health and submissions from the defence about his lack of previous convictions and antecedents.
Judge Rafter noted that the defence had included references from individuals that praised McLaughlin’s “commitment to the rights of children”.
More than two decades after the first allegations about McLaughlin emerged â he was convicted.
But McLaughlinâs lawyers said while their client was currently battling serious, life threatening health issues, he was taking legal action to mount an appeal.
They said he believed he was the victim of a serious miscarriage of justice and intended to take whatever action was necessary to restore his good name and reputation.
McLaughlin has repeatedly denied any sexual interaction with Douglas. A court also rejected Douglasâs claims of sexual interaction with the Brother.
For those who had come forward previously to make allegations about McLaughlin, or were impacted by Douglas coming into their lives, the result brought both relief and anger.
For the Smith family it was too late.
The boy who made the complaint in 2002 died in 2012 from a heart attack, which his family believed was brought on by the medication he was prescribed for depression and other ailments.
Dion said he didn’t believe justice had been served.
“By him getting off jail … it is not good for victims. It’s like he’s someone in a higher power and you can’t touch him,” he said.
For Mr Wilson, whose life had spun out of control after his association and failed criminal case involving McLaughlin in the 1990s, he was distressed he would serve no jail time.
“He was supposed to be sick back when I was taking legal action against him,” Mr Wilson said.
It took until 2017 for Mr Wilson to receive a settlement from the Christian Brothers for the abuse he alleges he suffered at the hands of McLaughlin.
When Sergeant Danslow learned Judge Rafter had mentioned character references praising McLaughlin’s work with children he was confounded.
“It’s really concerning that he [McLaughlin] was able to go on and have any contact with children. They need to look at the evidence. He’s got a dark side.
“I don’t think I have ever struck anyone like him that had the influence and the power and the people to support him.”
New investigation launched
After questions from the ABC the Christian Brothers Oceania Province said they would launch an independent investigation into concerns around McLaughlin, Douglas and Nudgee College, to be conducted by Brisbane barrister Troy Spence.
“I am very concerned by what has been raised and I have instructed these matters to be the subject of an independent investigation by an experienced Queensland barrister,” Province leader Brother Gerard Brady said in a statement.
“Whilst this takes place, the Province respectfully refrains from responding to these questions.”
The Queensland government confirmed McLaughlin, while not having been “formally assessed” as a foster carer, had an established relationship with the Department of Families.
As a direct result of his role as principal at Nudgee College, the department assigned him some caring responsibilities for children, a spokesperson said.
“Departmental records show he was frequently referred to as a foster carer and or approved person and treated as such. For example being given permission as an approved person to care for children away from the school.”
Departmental records indicated McLaughlin had offered a range of scholarships and supports to vulnerable children and their families and some of the children were in the care of the department at the time.
McLaughlin’s lawyers last week said their client was the temporary on-site foster care nominee as part of a program to provide education for disadvantaged children â a role he undertook for approximately three months prior to completion of his five-year term as college principal.
They said at no time did any student from the program make allegations of wrongdoing against their client who, after 1993, had very limited contact with Nudgee College and no involvement in the student equity program.
They said their client did not take any students from the student equity program to stay in motels.
McLaughlin’s lawyers said from time to time office staff for the Christian Brothers used McLaughlin’s credit card to make motel bookings and for expenses associated with visiting guests.
They said McLaughlin did stay at the Coronation Motel in the late 1990s, as did other staff, while renovations were being undertaken at the province leadership living quarters.
In responding to the ABC, they said it was “deplorable” to seek to link McLaughlin with “the many shameful acts which Dennis Douglas has been convicted of”.
Cross on top of building at Nudgee School(ABC News: Michael Lloyd)
Nudgee College issued a statement saying it was devastated to learn of the abuse allegations involving McLaughlin and Douglas, describing them as shocking and disturbing.
“The college acknowledges the bravery and courage of those who have come forward to tell their stories of this period. We also acknowledge the pain experienced by these individuals,” the statement read.
The college said the student equity program had been discontinued many years ago and those who oversaw the program were no longer involved with the college.
Meanwhile, McLaughlin’s former associate Douglas was last year released from prison where he had been serving a lengthy sentence for committing serious sexual offences against children in the 2000s.
State Attorney-General Shannon Fentiman unsuccessfully applied to block the Nudgee old boy’s release under the Dangerous Prisoners Sex Offender Act.
A court ruled Douglas could be released under rigorous supervision that included 48 conditions.
Like McLaughlin, Douglas is now back in the community.
*Names have been changed for privacy and legal reasons.
Posted Thu 18 Feb 2021 at 5:52amThursday 18 Feb 2021 at 5:52am, updated Thu 18 Feb 2021 at 5:53pm
Chris Stoker wants the former BGS headmaster stripped of his Order of Australia for services to education.(ABC News: Lexy Hamilton-Smith)
Chris Stoker is desperate to move on and find some closure decades after becoming a victim of the sick fantasies of serial paedophile Kevin Lynch.
Key points:
Abuse survivor Chris Stoker is campaigning for former BGS headmaster Max Howell to be stripped of his Order of Australia
From age 12, Mr Stoker endured years of sexual abuse by BGS school counsellor and serial child molester Kevin Lynch
Mr Howell died in 2011 denying any knowledge of any abuse
Every day since he was a 12-year-old boy, Mr Stoker, now 50, has relived the abuse he endured at the hands of the serial child molester, who was a school counsellor between 1973 and 1988 at Brisbane Grammar School (BGS), one of Queensland’s leading boys’ schools.
The abuse lasted for three-and-a-half years.
Mr Stoker’s older brother was also a Lynch victim â his abuse also started when he was 12 and lasted the same length of time.
Both men feel betrayed that the man whose job it was to protect them and scores of other young boys â then BGS principal Max Howell â refused to act when he was made aware of the predator’s behaviour as early as 1981.
The Stoker brothers and many others were raped by Lynch in a locked room with a red flashing light signalling no-one should enter.
Chris Stoker said he was also physically assaulted by Mr Howell during those years.
Mr Howell died in 2011, denying knowledge of any abuse.
Mr Stoker has spent several months campaigning to have the former BGS headmaster stripped of his Order of Australia (OAM) for services to education, that he was awarded on January 26, 1986.
In 1990, Mr Howell was awarded an honorary doctorate by Griffith University.
Last October, Mr Stoker wrote to the university urging that title be revoked and the institution yesterday agreed to act, two days after being contacted by the ABC.
But Mr Howell’s OAM still stands and is easy to find on the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet ‘It’s an Honour’ webpage.
“They are perpetuating his behaviour, continually recognising him for his failings for protecting children,” Mr Stoker said.
“It makes a statement that it is OK to have done those things, that it is OK to have ignored children’s pleas for help.
“Dr Howell completely failed the children who were at Brisbane Grammar School â I know at the time he accepted the award, I was being abused by Kevin Lynch.
“I relive that abuse every day of my life and I do not need more reminders of that abuse being sanctioned by our Government.”
Dr Howell died in 2011 denying any knowledge of abuse.(ABC News)
Mr Howell was the headmaster at the prestigious school from 1965 to 1989 and was responsible for employing Lynch, who reported directly to the then-principal.
Established in 1868, BGS is a non-denominational day and boarding school for boys in years five to 12 and is Brisbane’s oldest secondary school.
“We find that BQH told Dr Howell that Mr Lynch had sexually abused his son BQJ,” the report said.
“Dr Howell did not investigate the allegations and did not report the matter to the police or the board of trustees.
“In not doing so, he failed in his obligations to protect the safety and wellbeing of the students.
“We find that during Dr Howell’s period as headmaster there was a culture at Brisbane Grammar [School] where boys who made allegations of sexual abuse were not believed and allegations were not acted upon.”
The commission also heard allegations that at one time Mr Howell interrupted an episode of sexual abuse in the counsellor’s office and found the boy with his pants down, and called the boy a “sick individual”.
Kevin Lynch sexually abused Mr Stoker for more than three years.(ABC News)
The student, witness BQA, said he had been blamed for the depraved encounters, not Lynch, and he felt emotionally abandoned.
Lynch was able to play out his molestation protected by the school, which had no formal policies to investigate sex abuse allegations.
The paedophile went onto abuse more than 80 boys both at BGS as a counsellor at that school between 1973 and 1988 and then at St Paul’s School at Bald Hills, north of Brisbane, where he was a counsellor from 1989 to 1997.
In 1997, Lynch was charged with committing sexual crimes against dozens of children, but he killed himself during prosecution.
‘Abuse of dozens of children’
Last year, Mr Stoker wrote to the Australia Day Honours Committee, the Governor-General’s office and Prime Minister Scott Morrison asking the honour be removed for Dr Howell.
But in a letter from Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Ben Morton MP, Mr Stoker was told he had already been advised by the Australian Honours and Awards Secretariat that the Order of Australia was a society of living persons and membership ceased upon death.
“As Mr Howell died in 2011 and is no longer a living member of the Order of Australia, the Council is unable to commence proceedings to terminate or cancel the award,” the letter said.
While Mr Stoker stared at the honour on his computer screen, he told the ABC he felt angry and betrayed.
Chris Stoker says he feels angry and betrayed when the honour comes up on his computer screen on the 2020 webpage.(ABC News: Lexy Hamilton-Smith)
“I feel the Australian Government and the Governor-General’s office is perpetuating his [Mr Howell’s] part in the abuse of dozens of children,” Mr Stoker said.
“It is the removal of the recognition, and by doing so, it is acknowledging those people did the wrong thing â that they did not do what a normal, decent human being would do.
“I feel betrayed by someone who should have been protecting me.
“[Mr Howell] gets to keep his reputation, honour and his dignity, while the victims have to suffer feelings of shame and guilt every single day.”
Website entry – Maxwell Arthur Howell – 1986 Australia Day Honours List(Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet)
Mr Stoker said he first contacted Griffith University in October, requesting it revoke Mr Howell’s honorary doctorate awarded for services to education.
“At that time I was a student at the university, struggling with alcohol abuse, anxiety, panic attacks and depression caused by the abuse,” Mr Stoker said.
“I was going through an extremely dark period of my life â I was on the path to suicide, to be honest.”
Griffith University revokes doctorate
After being contacted by the ABC on Monday, Griffith issued a statement yesterday.
“Griffith University has revoked the Doctor of the University (DUniv) award conferred on Mr Max Howell AM in 1990,” the statement said.
“The decision follows the university being made aware of the findings of the Royal Commission into Institutional Child Sex Abuse in relation to Mr Howell’s time as Headmaster of Brisbane Grammar School.
“The University has discussed the decision with Mr Howell’s family.”
Griffith is in the process of removing the doctorate from their official archival website.
Kevin Lynch sexually abused students at Brisbane Grammar School and St Paul’s School at Bald Hills during the 1980s and 1990s.(ABC News)
Honour ‘awarded under false pretences’
Another survivor of Lynch â ‘Ben’ (not his real name) â backed the calls for removal of both awards
“This isn’t ‘cancel culture’ â quite simply Max Howell should never have received these awards in the first place,” Ben said.
“Each award was given to him after he perpetrated the professional misconduct and concealed the reports of child sexual abuse in his school.
“If the facts of his professional misconduct had been known by the awards committee at the time of being nominated for the awards, the awards would never have been issued, so they were awarded under false pretences.
“It was a mistake to issue the awards and that mistake now needs to corrected.”
‘Enormous courage’
University of South Australia Professor Chris Goddard, has been working in child protection for 40 years, said he applauds Mr Stoker for his bravery.
“It takes enormous courage to do what he [Mr Stoker] is doing â to publicly acknowledge what has happened to him and that he has been so damaged,” Professor Goddard said.
“To award someone and then say you can’t take it away from them because he is dead â when it later transpires he [Mr Howell] covered up dozens of cases of awful abuse â it is just extraordinary.
“Nothing can be that difficult â we do need cultural change.”
Max Howell’s name as it was on the indoor sports centre at Brisbane Grammar School, shortly before it was removed in 2015.(ABC News)
Professor Goddard said although Mr Howell was dead, this system was “living proof that people do not care about the victim’s feelings”.
“It is a constant reminder that ultimately [abuse victims] are low down the pecking order and to be brutal, it doesn’t really matter,” he said.
“It is another extraordinary example of us failing to take child abuse seriously.”
Professor Goddard said a letter to Mr Stoker written on behalf of Prime Minister Scott Morrison said: “The safety of children is of the utmost importance to the Australian Government.”
“So one way they can demonstrate it is showing that they will punish people â living or dead people â for crimes against children and covering up crimes against children,” he said.
Professor Goddard said he was “appalled but not surprised” that Mr Stoker’s campaign had failed so far.
“But it is wrong â completely and utterly wrong,” he said.
‘I just want it to stop’
Haunted by the depraved actions of Lynch for 36 years, Mr Stoker said he would continue his campaign to see Mr Howell “dishonoured” for his contribution to education.
“Most of all I just want it to stop â the recognition of people who have done the wrong thing by children to stop,” Mr Stoker said.
“Unless we change today we are not going to change tomorrow â if we keep ignoring the past, then the future is going to be the same as the past.”
In keeping with a human nature (or animal instinct) of hiding/subverting past memories away, the oft-said belief of âthe past is the pastâ, âjust get over itâ is coming back to prove itself wrong. Deeply. As many of the support-therapists-Counsellors-medicoâs I have dealt with told me: âyou canât successfully move on from the past, if so much is hidden awayâ. This post isnât to repeat my past sorrows, rather shift the focus onto another of SEQâs GPS schools: IGS Ipswich Grammar School.
Our RCbbc Blog is getting more contact, from past Surviving-Victims of CSA of IGS. As one predator of BBC employment (Anthony Kim Buchanan) had been known to have moved onto IGS, our 2022 goal can now be to unravel more of hidden truths, impacts and solutions of this growing habit. Speaking with others (support-therapists-Counsellors-medicoâs), is the best place to start, which should provide help in moving forward.
Since 26th Oct 20, there has been a jump in visitors to our RCbbc Blog. Most of these were concerning âknown CSA predatorsâ, âeliteâ/âprivate schoolsâ and âprevious chargesâ/âcurrent trialsâ. The inclusion of another âBrandâ˘â of GPS Schools (Catholic) had also been a major trigger to these jumps. While following a similar pattern of how Journalistic-identified programs had unveiled CSA instances, upwards from southern states; RCbbc has âback-tracedâ these same trails in reverse (BBC-GPS-NSW).
Photographic portion of Sydney Opera House. (bbc cultural article, 2014)
Although identification of these trails were discussed during our early days (2013-15), it is still breathtaking when truths are realised. Unfortunately, those who experienced any of Butchâs (AK Buchanan, BBC, St Paulâs & IGS) classes may remember some of AAGPS Schools being mentioned, in his previous exploits (SHORE, Scots College et al). Much more is awaiting to become evident, so stay tuned.
Current GPS image, denoting IGS (2020)
BBCâs inclusion in the Royal Commissionâs eventual National Redress Scheme, is administered via the PMSA (Presbyterian Methodist Schools Association). Each of the other stated Private Schools should be administered by their similar authorities. Relevant details of each of these institutions is contained in the following References, which should provide relevant authorities detail upon request.
AAGPS. (2020). Athletic Association of The Great Public Schools of NSW.http://aagps.nsw.edu.au
To our growing CSA Victims, Survivours, Family-Friends & Viewers – itâs becoming clearer even from our small GPS SEQ âschool familiesâ that our own backyards may hold memories not worth repeating. Alike the political alternate halves of government, society is subtly influenced by the class ecosystems of its noteworthy educators. âPedagoguesâ is another term known by some elites, who continue to believe that their own children wonât be effected.
Giving voice to the voiceless
At this point in time COVID19 is the âblind messengerâ, where anyone may fall victim when exposed. Quarantines are necessary, yet entire school (Institution) wise is quite unachievable. This is where each state government has formed an updated Act to restrict the earlier âplaygroundsâ of most Pedophiles-Criminals. Unfortunately some continue to practice, having slipped through the system. Inevitable, yet expected. Our concerns include what will we do with them, how will our minor students continue to achieve the greatest teachings and will there ever be an answer to when this (âutopianâ) idea can be had?
âWith greater awareness, comes preparednessâ. Just as more attention is being shown to the long-hidden patterns of Child-Sexual-Abuse (CSA) in various Institutions, the deeper + wider impacts of âMulti-layered Corruptionâ throughout wider social layers are beginning to be revealed…
As Qldâs Private Schooling (e.g. GPS) are awaiting for collective, group actions similar to individual churches/schools/teachers – evidence is only mounting. Hopes are to strive for some of the Research, collected with Public Statements, Journalism (draft + published) and other related Info. I am aware of other âGroup Actionsâ, yet am unsure of the feasibility of âcollective (?)â action. Similar actions have been successful, in communities (I.E. âResidents VS Councilâ) which various CSA Victims and Surviving Family-Friends believe they are. While some institution communities, now distance themselves from past occasions – the damages of previous CSA Impacts does not have the same âUse By Dateâ. Indeed, as per the following âcan of wormsâ image, and as proven by the growing audience of this âRoyalCommBBC.blogâ – many others are in need of Support, Direction and Comforting.
As focussed in the following image, are seven (7) of the GPS Qld Schools and Colleges. Alike the classic story of âSisyphus pushing a stone up a hillâ, the multiple examples of lifelong impacts of CSA need to be dealt with: IGS, BGS, SJGT, SJNC, TSS, BBC & ACGS. Please add your thoughts…
BGS, GT, BBC, ACGS, NC, IGS & TSS, … BSHS & TGS seem to be âsavedâ?! Each of the other Private Schools/Colleges within Queenslandâs GPS competitions have been dealing with higher amounts of CSA, than comparative (coed) Brisbane State High & TGS. Perhaps changes in some of the previously same-gender schools/colleges have allowed for coed into early years, avoiding how male/female only has involved increases in CSA occurrence(?).
Similar to allowance of low-SES culture into Private Schools/Colleges, disbanding these permissions has been introduced at some of these locations. There may have been rises in some International Students. Has this solved the situation, or âmoved the targetâ? Again, time will tell – yet any responses from our readers is WELCOME! Whatâs more precious, reputation of the school, or safety of our children?
Resulting from the dramatic jumps in past BBC students/âOld Boysâ, family members and other interested viewers, RCbbc Blog is now approaching 750 Subscribers! From something that began as simply an idea, a few like-minds started messaging and now there has been leaps in global viewers. Obviously, BBC has earned a place with its high-levels of diversified achievements: academic-sporting-cultural both inter-intra-world competitions.
Image retrieved : The Gradual Awakening of Mark Goldberg
This post is however, not to focus on the positive, public and uplifting moments – rather provide further reinforcement of the solutions that should be easily understood by those effected by CSA. While Child Sexual Abuse has, does and will continue to exist its acknowledgement, realisation and avoidance-of will allow continued trust to be had with where our children and young adults are schooled.
Should any current + future parents / adoptees have any concerns of their childrenâs care, following is a copy of what BBC/PMSA has provided for this purpose: (as follows) Further assistance may be gained through Qld Policeâs Childrenâs safety-Youth safety-Children and the internet-Whoâs chatting to your kids?-PoliceLink-Child Protection Investigation Unit (CPIU) https://www.police.qld.gov.au/units/victims-of-crime/child-protection
knowmore is immense help, for any stage of Compensation-Redress-Legal advice. As stated on their site: âFree legal help; FOR SURVIVORSâ. Explained further, throughout the site âknowmore is an independent service giving free legal advice to survivors of abuse by providing them with information about the justice and redress options that may be available to them.â explains more. Whichever stage youâre at / your family are at, knowmore provide specialised advice in this field!
Published 5 years ago on January 8, 2015 By Makia Freeman
Last Updated on September 2, 2019
THE STORY:Both Bill Clinton and Prince Andrew were listed as names in the late convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein’s Little Black Book.
THE IMPLICATIONS:Elite pedophilia is widespread, and there is a push to normalize it with the creation of terms like “minor-attracted person.” Why is pedophilia so rife among the ruling class?
Elite pedophilia is a common theme in the underbelly of the New World Order. As the Prince Andrew scandal shows, it goes all the way to the highest echelons.
Elite pedophilia
is a common theme in the underbelly of the New World Order. Elite pedophilia is shockingly widespread. It goes all the way to highest levels, as the latest scandal involving Prince Andrew shows. This is not just a one-off incident, nor is it isolated. The numerous examples of elite pedophilia throughout the world are fundamentally connected, because a global sex-trafficking ring exists, involving pimps like billionaire Jeffrey Epstein and those who use his child sex slaves, like Alan Dershowitz (ardent defender of genocidal Zionism), and like Bill Clinton and Prince Andrew (Epstein reportedly had 21 phone numbers for Bill Clinton). The reality is that many perpetrators of pedophilia are not shady men in trench coats living in seedy hotels, but are in fact pillars of our community. They are men in so-called ârespectableâ professions such as banking, law, medicine and politics.
The Shocking Extent of Elite Pedophilia
The late great Ted Gunderson was a former FBI chief who spent decades of the later half of his life investigating the New World Order and Satanism. His inquiries led him to discover a common thread running through the global conspiracy: a worldwide child sex trafficking and pedophilia ring that sold children into slavery and flew them to places like Washington DC to be used in sex orgies by politicians. Gunderson found that, in America, more than 100,000 kids were going missing every year, and that the FBI, CPS and White House were fully complicit in the coverup.
Senator John De Camp wrote a book entitled âThe Franklin Cover-Up, Child Abuse, Satanism, and Murder in Nebraskaâin which he exposed the existence of a child sex ring in Nebraska. You can read excerpts of it on educate-yourself.org. In it he names many figures such as George Bush and former NSA chief Michael Aquino of the Church of Satan. We have testimony from many people such as Paul Bonacci, Brice Taylor and Cathy OâBrien, who states George Bush, Dick Cheney, Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton and many others raped her and her young daughter Kelly.
The movie Conspiracy of Silence is an excellent documentary exposing the global child sex trafficking rings.
From one perspective, it is somewhat surprising that the elite engage in so much pedophilia, when it can be so easily used to compromise and blackmail them later. It is obvious that pedophilia is used to lure and then control ambitious politicians so they will toe the line. Perhaps these people think they are so rich and powerful that they are untouchable, but times are changing.
However, from another perspective, pedophilia is intimately connected with mind control and Satanism, which are also ever present in the New World Order. The underage victims of pedophilia are all mind controlled, with techniques developed at the Nazi-run CIA, to submit and suppress what happened. Many of them never break their programming, but some do.
The Attempt by the Elite to Normalize Pedophilia with Newspeak: âMinor-Attracted Personsâ
In his masterpiece 1984, George Orwell talks about how the manipulation of society is accomplished through the control of language; specifically, how language can be flooded with euphemisms to misdirect and hide the truth. Orwell called the new language of deception Newspeak, and stated that, âAll political language is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable.â Just look at some of our modern day examples: torture is âenhanced interrogation techniquesâ; murder is âcollateral damageâ; the aggression initiation of war is a âpre-emptive strikeâ; the theft of taxpayersâ money is a âbailoutâ; and the theft of depositorsâ money in a bank is a âhaircutâ or âbail-inâ.
In a blatant example of Newspeak, the New World Order controllers (through the psychiatric DSM V) have tried to rename pedophiles as âminor-attracted personsâ and redefine pedophilia as a âsexual orientationâ. This makes no sense, since sexual orientation has to do with gender not age, with whether you are attracted to males or females, not how old they are. There are even organizations (like B4UAct.org) which are claiming that pedophiles are being unfairly stigmatized for their feelings! Psychiatry, it should also be noted, has a history of inventing fictitious diseases such as ADHD (as admitted by its inventor on his deathbed by Leon Eisenberg).
This move has to do with the NWO elite wanting to reshape the world in their (sick) image. It has to do with removing any moral, cultural or legal stigmatism and ramifications from the act of pedophilia â so they can continue to conduct their child sex trafficking and pedophilic activities with no fear of consequence.
Why is Elite Pedophilia so Widespread?
Why is elite pedophilia a global phenomenon? Because of the mindset that dominates the thoughts and acts of those in power. It is a mindset that looks at everyone and everything around it as resources to be used and abused for its own personal gain â even if that gain results in its own self-destruction. It is a mindset that operates according to greed not need. It is a mindset that believes might is right, and which derives a twisted pleasure from exploiting the weak and innocent. Elite pedophilia is the manifestation of this predatory mindset in the sexual arena. It needs to be stopped â and it will be. The lid is coming off. More and more reports of elite pedophilia are coming to light, and the decent people of the world are going to be shocked when they understand the full extent of it.
Makia Freeman Makia Freeman is the editor of The Freedom Articles, a long-time truth researcher and a promoter of freedom. He provides insightful, non-partisan, unique and cutting-edge analysis on who’s running the world, how they’re doing it and what the deeper agenda is â as well as solutions for restoring peace and freedom to the world. He writes articles exposing propaganda and the numerous aspects of the worldwide conspiracy, in addition to geopolitics, sovereignty, health and higher consciousness. His articles are regularly syndicated and featured on sites such as David Icke, Wake Up World, Activist Post, Waking Times, Global Research, The Sleuth Journal and many more.
