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.  

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.)