Caldey Island Abbot Apologises Over Failure to Report Abuse Claims Steven Morris and Amanda Gearing

Caldey Island abbot apologises over failure to report abuse claims Steven Morris and Amanda Gearing The head of Caldey Abbey has issued an apology acknowledging that allegations of serious child sexual abuse made against a Cistercian monk should have been passed on to police. Daniel van Santvoort, the abbot at the abbey on Caldey Island, said he was “truly sorry” that allegations made against Father Thaddeus Kotik had not been reported to the authorities, and expressed regret for any harm caused. There are growing concerns that many other children may have been abused on the island in Pembrokeshire, south-west Wales. Van Santvoort said anyone with concerns should contact the police or the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse. The Guardian revealed at the weekend that six women claimed they had been abused as children by Kotik during the 1970s and 80s. Since then, it has emerged that five others were allegedly abused by the monk, who died in 1992. In a statement posted on the island’s Facebook page on Wednesday, Van Santvoort said the community felt “great sadness and regret”. He said: “Any allegations of child abuse should be reported to the appropriate authorities and investigated. This clearly did not happen and we apologise.” The abbot continued: “The claimed abuses took place between 1971 and 1987. At this time, the present Caldey Abbey community was not on the island, a fact which exacerbated the difficulties of the claims. “When I came to the island in 1990, and then became abbot in 1999, I knew nothing of any such claims, but I was made aware of them in 2014 when one claimant contacted me. “I forwarded the matter first to the police and then our solicitors as, due to the complexities, it was a matter which lay outside the realms of my abilities. I acted at every step with compassion and empathy, and expressed my regret and sorrow at any such abuse. I flew to Australia to meet two claimants expressly to apologise. “I confirm that as a result of the communication between our solicitor and the claimants, Caldey Abbey compensated six people out of court in 2016, some 40 years later. I am truly sorry that my predecessors did not report allegations to the police and I am sorry that, as an abbey, it has taken so long to compensate for these claims.” Van Santvoort said the abbey had worked to tighten up its child protection procedures. “We now have robust child protection procedures in place on the island, including a child protection co-ordinator,” he said. “We are working with the children’s commissioner for Wales who has advised that anybody with concerns should contact the police or the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse so that allegations can be considered sensitively and with expertise. We will fully cooperate with this inquiry and any other investigation. “As abbot, I very much regret any harm caused to any layperson as a result of the actions of one of my community, and strive to ensure that every visitor to Caldey enjoys only peace, comfort and the feeling of wellbeing.” One of the victims of abuse by Kotik called the apology disingenuous because it mentioned “allegations” and “alleged” five times. Adele (not her real name), who was part of a civil action against the abbey that was settled in March, said any genuine apology would recognise that the abuse happened. “It is simply factually incorrect that the abbot ‘acted at every step with compassion and empathy and expressed regret and sorrow’ because, in the same breath, he said it was only ‘alleged’,” she said. “When one has borne the shame of child sex abuse for years, the abbot’s words now are truly shameful.” Van Santvoort’s comments also do not appear to completely tally with what he is said to have told one of Kotik’s victims, Charlotte (not her real name). While he said in his statement that he knew nothing of the claims before they were brought to his attention in 2014, Charlotte said that when she contacted him in that year he replied: “I have heard occasionally about this serious matter as regards Fr Thaddeus.” Van Santvoort told her the monastery knew about allegations and that he had been reprimanded and banned from contact with islanders and visitors in the 1980s, but not reported to police. He said in 2014: “I am fully aware now of this terrible criminal offence and Fr Thaddeus should have there and then been handed over to the police – something that never happened.” Charlotte told the Guardian that when she asked Van Santvoort whether he was aware of any other victims, he responded that her cousin had made contact with him four years earlier with similar allegations. Six women brought a civil claim. The abbey denied liability but paid modest compensation to the women. Three of the plaintiffs subsequently decided to go public with their claims, partly in the hope of encouraging other survivors to come forward. The women also want a formal apology from the abbey. Dyfed-Powys police confirmed that in 2014 and 2016 it “received reports of non-recent sexual abuse that occurred at Caldey Island with the named offender being the deceased Thaddeus Kotik.” Because he was dead, a prosecution was not possible, the force said. Macsas, an organisation that supports survivors of clerical abuse, said an inquiry was needed to establish the extent of the alleged abuse. The children’s commissioner for Wales, Sally Holland, has asked the abbey for information on its child protection procedures. Next week, the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse is to hold public hearings into allegations of abuse and exploitation of children in the Roman Catholic church. The first case to be examined is the English Benedictine congregation, which has been the subject of numerous allegations of child sexual abuse, including at schools it runs. .

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