CHILDREN, many of whom were orphans and particularly vulnerable, were coaxed to one of Britain’s holy islands where they were systematically sexually abused.
Brave victims have revealed the harrowing experiences children suffered on Caldey Island, a short boat trip from Tenby, Wales, every month.
Kevin O’Connell, who created the Caldey Island Survivors Campaign after many wrote to him about their abuse, says he has so far collected 59 victim accounts.
Yesterday, a safeguarding review authored by consultant social worker Jan Pickles concluded victims of sexual abuse there were treated in a hostile, heartless and cruel way.
In response, Caldey Abbey, which commissioned the report, apologised for the suffering caused.
And now, following renewed calls for a public inquiry, renowned public enquiries lawyer Michael Imperato says he would be prepared to take on the case and believes children could have been sexually assaulted on the island at “industrial scale”.
Evil monk Father Thaddeus Kotik, stationed at the island’s monastery from 1947 until his death in 1992, never faced any criminal charges despite countless claims against him.
However, six victims were paid compensation after a 2016 civil case found the Cistercian priest, from Poland, had sexually abused them between 1972 and 1987.
One victim – who received a £19,000 payout – told The Sun said she was advised against taking action by her mum and some former islanders who didn’t want her to “blacken the good name of Caldey”.
She made the trip to the island over school holidays and was preyed on almost every day by Kotik – and claims she saw him also abuse others, including babies.
Kotik arrived on the island in 1947 after fighting in the Free Polish army during WW2.
He was ordained in 1956.
The victim told us how the priest would wear Y-fronts back to front “to pretend he didn’t know how it all worked”.
“We just thought this is an adult who was interested in us.”
She continued: “What I noticed about Father Thaddeus, he always abused [the children of] vulnerable families.”
She described coach loads of kids from care often visiting the island for days at a time, who he would prey on.
“The other monks said he was a bit of a joker, a bit of a child. They didn’t take him that seriously, but they knew there was something dodgy about him.”
Referring to the other monks and staff, she said: “The whole island was like a cult, it was a feudal hierarchy. You had them at the top and then everybody else underneath.”
She claims in 1990 she told her mum – who died several years ago – about the abuse but was warned not to report it or Kotik would be segregated from the other monks on the island.
This guide was produced by Operation Hydrant – a coordination hub
established in June 2014 to deliver the national policing response,
oversight, and coordination of non-recent child sexual abuse
investigations.
It specifically looks at cases concerning persons of public prominence, or in relation to those offences which took place within institutional settings.
You can report to the police at any time.
It can be done in a number of ways – going to a police station, dialling 101, reporting online via a police website, or even through a third party, such as a friend or relative.
When you first make contact with the police, they will take an initial report, a ‘first account’.
The force will then make contact with you to take more detailed information.
An impartial investigation will then be launched based on what you have told officers.
“Father Thaddeus would abuse us three or four times a day,” she recalled. “His hands were very rough, and he always stank of BO. We would get infections because his hands were so dirty.”
She described how Kotik was “so compulsive” and would invite kids to a makeshift office he had near the dairy. His myna bird would chatter and he’d offer them biscuits before abusing them.
She said the Lincoln biscuits had “lumps all over them”.
“I remember thinking they were the tears in my eyes and how sad they were. Thinking of somebody’s eyes.”
The victim finally stopped going to the island regularly at the age of 16.
Kotik had lost interest in her once she hit puberty several years earlier.
But the trauma has remained with her. She was later raped by someone linked to the Catholic church when she was 15.
“I felt I didn’t have any rights over my body, I didn’t feel I could say ‘no, I don’t want to do this’,” she said.
“What I tend to do now is just avoid people because I was never brought up to have the self confidence to say no.
“What I’ve realised is I’d rather be busy and lonely than in a relationship.
“When a relationship gets remotely sexual I’m right there and it’s too loaded and too many conflicting feelings.”
In a letter from an island resident seen by The Sun, it was alleged that a “grooming” culture persists and that offenders are “protected”.
Earlier this year, safeguarding officer Maria Battle, former chair of the Howell Dda University Health Board in Wales, was appointed to oversee the island.
She is a director of the Caldey island Estate Company Ltd which has led anti-abuse campaigners to question her independence.
Since her appointment a page has appeared on the island’s website saying Caldey operates under the Catholic Safeguarding Standard Agency.
In May, she announced that the Abbey has appointed Independent Safeguarding Consultant and former Assistant Police & Crime Commissioner for South Wales, Ms Pickles OBE to lead a “thorough review” into historical claims of child abuse.
Victim testimonies from the Seventies collected by Ms Pickles suggest Kotik was a “serial and prolific abuser of children”, often in “plain sight” of others on the island.
The report states there were multiple other occasions where accusations of child sexual abuse were not appropriately logged or reported to the authorities.
Multiple men with convictions for sexual offences have been known to have resided on the island at various times from the Seventies to the present day.
Ms Pickles’ review into what happened on the island involved thorough contact with 16 victims of child sexual abuse.
It is understood Ms Pickles accepts Mr O’Connell’s now 59 victim accounts and notes more victims – up to 19 – contacted journalist Dr Amanda Gearing following media coverage in 2017.
Ms Pickles said the abbey had responded in a “heartless way” to victims who were “very vulnerable and very damaged”.
The review outlined several missed opportunities and said there appeared to have been a failure of leadership at the highest level.
It said repeated and frequent allegations of sexual abuse against Kotik had not been reported to the authorities as the law of that time required.
“This strategy has led the abbey’s approach to be seen as hostile and cruel,” it said.
Father Jan Rossey, who took on the role of abbot last year, said he’d read the review with “deep sorrow and regret” and that it was “particularly heartbreaking to hear children spoke up to adults and no action was taken.
“Children and their families were failed when they should have been supported and listened to.
“The abuses should have been reported to the statutory authorities.
“On behalf of the monastic community, I sincerely apologise to all those who have been hurt and have suffered because of the abuse of Thaddeus Kotik and past failures in not protecting children and their families.
“It is particularly odious when abuse is committed and hidden by people who are in positions of trust because of their monastic or priestly vocation.”
He said safeguarding was now his priority and he had put measures in place to ensure the correct response to any allegations would be followed.
He added: “Since becoming Abbot, I have ensured that many safeguarding improvements have been put in place. These are detailed in the review.
“I have also reached out through Jan Pickles OBE to everyone who gave evidence offering to meet with them in person to apologise, to offer support and to thank them for their courage.
“I thank everyone who bravely came forward to give evidence of their experience to the review and I promise that I will do my utmost to prevent abuse from ever happening again on Caldey Island.”
