Alleged victims of sexual assault criticize the Knights of Malta’s grievance
Young man criticized Knights of Malta How the emergency organization responded to his complaints after he was allegedly sexually assaulted by another volunteer at the age of 18.
As a teenager who grew up in state care Justin Kelly From Co Longford, he told the Knights of Malta that he had previously believed that he had “saved” his life.
He joined an ambulance crew at the age of 16 and had a difficult time in his life after graduating from school.
Kelly, now 25, is devoted to voluntary work and has “never” missed training and first aid for many years.
The support he received in the organization helped him return to secondary school to complete the dropout certificate and motivated him to enter a healthcare career.
In recent years, that sense of belonging has been replaced by a sense of “hurt, pain, suffering” in the way the organization handles complaints after he has been sexually assaulted.
At the age of 18, Kelly claimed to have been sexually assaulted by an elderly male volunteer on a trip abroad with an organization to Lourdes, France, in May 2015.
Suspect, Scott brown (31) Originally from Co Kildare, he was subsequently convicted of sexual abuse of two 15-year-old boys in separate cases in 2018 in 2020.
Brown convicted another teenager being sexually assaulted in Dublin and the Wicklow Mountains two weeks later after a boy was verbally raped in a location in Leish on May 7, 2018. After admitting, he was sentenced to 11 years in prison. ..
Kelly spoke with the Irish Times and claimed that Brown had sexually assaulted him after chasing him into a hotel room. He said he was “frozen” during the incident before driving away the volunteers.
He then “broke down” at the airport on his way back to Ireland, revealing what had happened to the officers before filing a formal complaint with the organization later that month.
Mr Kelly said senior volunteers had been appointed to investigate his allegations, but a few weeks later the paramedics were told that no action could be taken. He said he was advised to report the alleged case to Ann Garda Shiochana because it happened abroad.
Brown remains in the organization and is understood to have been removed only after it was revealed in 2018 that he had been charged by Gardai for two 15-year-old sexual abuses.
Last year, Kelly wrote to Pederward, then Chief Executive Officer of the Knights of Malta, criticizing how his complaint was handled in 2015.
The young man said he was obsessed with the “guilt” that Brown should have done more to prevent him from abusing others.
His letter, seen by the Irish Times, said he felt his complaint was “rejected” by the organization.
He said the lack of support from the organization and the feeling of incredibility “destroyed” his life.
Kelly said the incident’s fallout and trauma later relocated him and now lives abroad. “The Knights of Malta was my life … I don’t have it now,” he told the Irish Times.
The board of directors of an organization known as the council met on Wednesday and agreed to commission an internal investigation into protection standards. According to sources, there are significant concerns within the organization about how the 2015 complaint was handled, and it is hoped that an internal investigation will investigate the issue.
In a statement to members on Wednesday, the organization’s president, Richard Duc de Stakpur, will be reviewed to identify “newer or improved protection practices” than those in place. I confirmed.
He said this work would provide not only “identifying potential risks and vulnerabilities for the time being and in the future”, but also “limiting damage to the reputation and integrity of paramedics.”
The investigation will be conducted by Mr. Ward and current CEO John Burn.
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/alleged-sexual-assault-victim-criticises-order-of-malta-s-handling-of-complaint-1.4870246?localLinksEnabled=false Alleged victims of sexual assault criticize the Knights of Malta’s grievance
