Image: Jonathan Luke Lord (Source: The Australian)
The next hearings of the Royal Commission, late in October, will cover another “case study”. This time it will be that of Jonathan Luke Lord, a childcare worker with the YMCA in Sydney.
Lord worked at the YMCA crèche, participated in its before and after school program, and, although against the organization’s rules, worked privately as a baby-sitter. In 2011, Lord pleaded guilty to offences against his charges, who ranged from 6 to 8 years old, and is due for parole in 2017.
Initially, there was a suppression order against both Lord’s identity and that of the YMCA, but were eventually lifted. The key issue with Lord was how he came to be employed, even though he had been fired from a job as a camp counselor in the U.S. previously, over allegations of similar offences.
There will undoubtedly be many expensive lawyers claiming the YMCA was not at fault, and that things are really, really, really good now, etc. Police will be quizzed about their handling of the case. Everyone will be shocked, and then the commission will go into another month-long recess, before re-surfacing with “case study 3” in November.
This author has had enquiries concerning the YMCA from victims and relatives, who hope that the organisation will be thoroughly investigated for all abuse cases within its ranks. However, if the first “case study” on Larkins and the Scouts is anything to go by, there will probably be no mention of incidents other than those concerning Lord.
The commission would argue that it is all about procedures, and not individual cases, so that better procedures can be developed in the future. Why, then, raise the hopes of victims for justice, and put them through the ordeal of giving evidence in private, if processes are the only things the general public gets to hear about?
[Postscript: An invitation is again extended to people, unhappy in any way with how their complaints have been received, to contact this blog.]
Read more here:
- http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-12-07/supression-lifted-on-name-of-childcare-abuse-accused/3717964
- http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/national/child-molester-jailed-for-10-years/story-e6frfku9-1226557032816
- http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/ymca-worker-pleads-guilty-to-sex-with-boys-20120823-24nqo.html#ixzz2foKp8yGr
- http://www.china.org.cn/world/2013-09/17/content_30053334.htm
TOMORROW: What the YMCA didn’t do
That’s all I can say
Lewis Blayse (né Lewin Blazevich)
lewisblayse.net 