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Senedd to decide on Caldey Island sex inquiry as petition reaches 5000 signatures

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A PETITION signed by over 5,000 people calling for a probe into child abuse allegations on a Pembrokeshire island, has led to a debate in the Senedd tomorrow (Monday, Nov 1)

The petition has been submitted by Kevin O’Connell, who says he is the victim of child abuse by priests and monks.

He says that he wants to persuade the Welsh Government to told an inquiry into the historic child abuse on Caldey Island.

He said: “Victims need the truth and answers as to why an ongoing investigation for 29 years has failed the victims. The inquiry will help to safeguard children in the future.”

In 2017 it came to light that the island has a long history of child sexual abuse after six women received compensation from the island’s abbey after being abused by Kotik. There are 21 victims who have now come forward and reported similar offences to Dyfed Powys Police with cases going back to the 1960s.

On a family holiday to the island when he was six years old, Kevin O’Connell said that he met the monk, Kotik. He said that they became friends and he began spending time alone with him.

“Caldey Island was a paradise. It was beautiful. I played with other children, the beach, volleyball and football, it was special. Father Thaddeus became very special to me, and he gave me the love I didn’t get at home from my Dad.”

Kotik, a former soldier who fought for the Free Polish army during the Second World War, moved to the island in 1947 and joined the strict Cistercian Order.

The monk was ordained a priest in 1956 and lived on the island until his death in 1992. It appears he was never questioned by police, who were not informed of allegations against him until 2014.

After the holiday Kevin says that Kotik kept in touch with him and sent him photos of Caldey Island in the post.

After becoming an altar boy he went on several more holidays to Caldey Island, arranged and funded by his local Catholic Church.

He never told his parents what Kotik did to him.

In 2019 Brother Daniel van Santvoort was asked for his response to the latest evidence that Kevin O’Connell was also abused on the island. Despite contacting the Brother several times, he never responded.  

Caldey Abbey, Caldey Island (Stock image)


SENEDD TO DECIDE ON INQUIRY

The petition coordinator says that there is a lack of accountability of the Cistercian Order of Caldey Abbey, and that victims have lost faith in the police investigation, that the local police have a conflict of interest and that the police have failed to conduct a full investigation.

A report submitted to the Welsh Government by Dinah Mulholland, Coordinator, Caldey Island Survivors Campaign makes shocking reading. He says: “Solicitors Michael Imperato and David Greenwood, acting on behalf of Caldey Island victims, both consider that from the scale of abuse reported by victims that it was perpetrated on an industrial scale, and that it is likely that Caldey was a hub for paedophiles.

“It is our opinion that it is likely that Caldey Island is known within paedophile networks as a safe place to be shielded, with the opportunity to perpetrate active or online abuse whilst on the island.
The abuse on Caldey could potentially be on a very significant scale. Over the decades there have been:

  • children who came on holiday with their families; referrals from RC churches in Wales and across the UK who came without their parents;
  • a primary school on the island and a reform school on the island.

Supporting documents show that the key messages from the campaign to the Petitions Committee are:
“That we are currently occupied with attempting to discover, on a voluntary and part-time basis, the scale of abuse by known and by other potential perpetrators. This is a huge job, it exceeds our capacity, and properly falls within the remit of the police or a public inquiry.

“We would urge the Senedd to hold a public inquiry into the abuse, and institutional facilitation/cover up of abuse by the Abbey, on Caldey Island. This inquiry, in our opinion, would need to consider any failings by statutory authorities to protect children who stayed on or visited the island, and any failings in investigations into the abuse. It would also need to consider the structural issues of the autonomy and lack of accountability of the Cistercian Order as it operates within Wales.

“If a public inquiry is unlikely to fall within Senedd powers or remit, or the Senedd considers that there is not enough evidence for a public inquiry to be warranted, then we would like to request that Welsh Government recommend a full and thorough investigation, by an external police force with expertise in large scale historic child sexual abuse, takes place.

“That may reveal the new information that would be required for a public inquiry.”

LAW SPECIALIST

Michael Imperato, Director & Head of Public & Administrative law at prominent Cardiff law firm Watkins & Gunn has advised that there are a number of reasons why a Public Inquiry is the only proper process that should be followed:
The advice is as follows:

“The Deputy Minster refers on a number of occasions to police investigations. The police are one of the bodies who would be significantly scrutinised by any such inquiry. There are various allegations by victims, which may or may not be unfounded, as to police complicity in “turning a blind eye” or subsequent “cover ups”. Numerous inquiries take place where there have been previous police investigations (Saville, Orgreave, IICSA, Infected Blood, Shipman) – often the investigation undertaken by the police is proved to be wholly inadequate. This is not a reason against a public inquiry.

“Child safeguarding is a critical issue and is of course devolved. It was common during the time that the sexual abuse was being undertaken, for Catholic schools in Wales and in England to send children to the island and for the Local Authority to allow – even to actively promote – holidaying families (with of course young children) to visit the island. Many of those children will then have been victims of abuse. Therefore, issues arise as to what schools and Local Authorities actually knew as to what was happening on Caldey, what steps did they take – or more pertinently – not take? Lessons must be learnt to ensure children are properly protected today.

“The Catholic church is quite obviously culpable and has a case to answer. What did the church authorities in Wales know of the abuse that was taking place on Caldey Island? How did they interact with other authorities/public bodies in Wales?

“The fact that the Inquiry is touching on matters from some time ago, should not be a deterrent. I am currently acting for several hundred Welsh victims from the Infected Blood Scandal, which concerns a time period, primarily, in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It could be argued that the fact that the matter concerns events some years ago, means that it is even more urgent that such events are scrutinized at this time. Indeed, one of the terms of reference of the Infected Blood Inquiry is why it has taken so long for there to be a thorough investigation, what happened and why? Just because there has been no investigation to date does not mean that it should not be investigated now.”

CAMPAIGNERS ARE SAYING:

1)Twenty six individuals have now come forward as victims of the paedophile monks. The police have failed to undertake an overarching investigation which is now standard practice following ‘Operation Yewtree’ .
2) An outside force needs to investigate the lack of police action as victims no longer trust that Dyfed Powys police will be willing to shine a spotlight on their friends at the Abbey. Why do I write ‘friends’? The lead chaplain of Dyfed Powys Police is the dean of Pembroke who has Caldey Island within his parish. The monastery appointed a safeguarding person but he is a former member of the south Wales police, turned monk and is a director of the estate of Caldey Island so it might be difficult to see him as independent.
3)Solicitors acting on behalf of the survivors believe Caldey was not just home to one paedophile monk but a hub for paedophile monks where they could come and go as they please and even hide away from police, which has been proven.
4) The police are failing in their duty of care not only towards past victims but also by not having any officers patrolling the island amongst the thousands of tourists visiting currently. The Cistercian order did not report past crimes against children to the police, yet are deemed adequate to safeguard children today by the police force failing to investigate properly.

(Cover photo: Father Thaddeus Kotik photographed with a child on Caldey Island, Wales, in the early 1980s.)

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Rugby Weekly – Tenby’s promotion push continues

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It’s crunch time for all rugby clubs around the county, whether promotion is their aim or fighting relegation or even just trying to improve their league position, it’s now or never. 

Last weekend saw an important win for Fishguard in division two west which should put any relegation fears to bed completely. James Griffiths added an impressive 18 points for the Seagulls as they defeated Nantgaredig 33-19. 

Elsewhere in the second division, Milford were beaten 32-8 by a good Lampeter outfit. The Mariners are still a little too close for comfort with the drop zone but should have enough quality to see them safe. 

At the other end of the table Tenby sit in second place and have played fewer games than leaders St Clears and third place Lampeter. They won impressively again last weekend, beating Pontyberem 64-19 at Haywood Lane. Fletcher Broadhurst impressed with two tries as did Hywel Baker who also grabbed himself a brace. Another excellent performance in an outstanding season so far in which promotion would be the absolute icing on the cake. 

In Division Three West, Pembroke were well beaten by Laugharne 74-15 in which the outstanding Liam Price and Nico Setaro both crossed the whitewash 4 teams a piece. The latter also added 7 successful conversions. 

There was a local derby at Pill Parks where Llangwm hosted Pembroke Dock Quins and it was an exciting clash. The visitors won narrowly 28-23, Craig Barnett and Gethin Bradney both scored two tries for the Quins. The Wasps battled hard and will be proud of their performance, Gethin Thomas impressed for the hosts with two tries of his own but it wasn’t enough to secure the points. 

St David’s hosted the high flying Cardigan outfit and were unable to score in reply to the visitors 20 points, with it ending 20-0. The Saints however won’t be losing too much sleep over it as they have had a great season so far. 

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Stephen Crabb leads inquiry on retaining community bank services  

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PRESELI Pembrokeshire MP, and Chair of the Welsh Affairs Select Committee Stephen Crabb is leading an inquiry in Parliament that will investigate the closure of high street banks in Wales, as well as access to cash.

In November 2023, Pembrokeshire saw the closure of Lloyds Bank in St Davids, and in the coming months both Barclays Bank and Halifax in Haverfordwest are set to close. In recent years, Wales has experienced a rapid decline in the number of high street banking services available to the public. Already in 2024, 23 high street bank closures have been announced in Wales, while automated teller machines (ATMs) declined by nearly a quarter between 2018 and 2023.

The Committee willconsider how declining high street banking services are impacting vulnerable people and small businesses across Wales, who are often more reliant on cash than digital banking. It will also examine how Wales is being affected by the loss of high street bank services, and whether the problem is worse in Wales than other parts of the UK.

Mr Crabb is a staunch advocate for retaining community banking facilities, especially in rural communities like Pembrokeshire where many local branches remain the only source of face-to-face banking provision for miles.

Recently Mr Crabb challenged Barclays Bank senior management on their decision to close the bank branch in Haverfordwest– a move that will see Barclays not only pull out of the county town, but means they won’t have a branch left anywhere in Pembrokeshire. He has also engaged with LINK – the UK’s largest cash machine network – and continues to campaign on the basis that a Banking Hub is established and that ATM machines should be retained or installed, especially in areas worst affected by the closures.  

Following the launch of the inquiry, MP Crabb added: “It is really sad to see so many banks across Wales closing as online banking grows in popularity. Despite the advantages of online banking, for a rural community with an ageing population like Pembrokeshire, bank branches hold huge importance as they offer face-to-face customer service.”

“I am acutely aware of the inconvenience that the bank closures locally have already caused following hundreds of replies from constituents to my ‘online banking survey’ ”

“I am looking forward to gathering further evidence on this subject through the committee’s inquiry, and will continue to put pressure on the relevant stakeholders to ensure that adequate alternative provisions are made through the establishment of banking hubs as well as the instalment of ATM machines where necessary.”

“In this inquiry, we are particularly keen to hear from those likely to be directly affected by the shift away from cash and physical banks. I encourage anyone with first-hand experience of losing banking services to give evidence to the Committee”

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Trains resume between Carmarthen and Pembroke Dock as works end

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TRAIN services resumed this morning (Thursday 28 March) after ten days of essential round-the-clock work to upgrade track and drainage between Carmarthen and Pembroke Dock.

The railway was closed from Monday 18 March to Wednesday 27 March to allow Network Rail teams to replace more than 200 metres of track and 300 tonnes of ballast (track stones) between Pembroke station and Pembroke Dock.

Work to improve the drainage between Narbeth and Kilgetty stations was also completed at the same time.

Nick Millington, Network Rail Wales and Borders route director, said: “This essential work in Pembrokeshire demonstrates our commitment to improving the reliability of the service we provide to passengers along our route.

“We know that replacing the track can be disruptive and very noisy, so I would like to thank the residents of Pembroke for their patience while our team carried out this crucial work.”

Colin Lea, Planning and Performance Director at Transport for Wales said: “We’re pleased that our colleagues in Network Rail have completed this essential work and that Transport for Wales rail services resumed today.

“We’d like to thank passengers for their patience while this work has progressed and look forward to welcoming passengers back in time for the Easter weekend.”

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