Stop Deaf Child Sexual Abuse
Many Other Cases and Not Only from Catholic Schools
International Sign
There are many other cases that may not have had as much media impact but deserve to be known. Some of them are:
Ireland
Mary Immaculate School for Deaf Children (Dublin)
21 complains against six members of the Congregation and two members of the lay staff for abuses between 1956 and 1998 (42 years).
Portugal
Casa Pia (Lisbon)
The scandal broke in September 2002 when the mother of one alleged victim complained of abuse by staff at a Casa Pia house. The Casa Pia child sex abuse trial started in 2004. Portuguese Judiciary Police officials estimate that more than 100 boys and girls pupils since 10 years old, including some deaf, may have been sexually abused between the 1970s and 2002 (about 30 years).
On 2010, six people were convicted and sentenced to up to eighteen years in prison.
United Kingdom
St John's Catholic School for the Deaf (Leeds)
In September 2008, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Leeds agreed to out-of-court settlements with seven men who had attended the school and had been victims of abuse by the pedophile priest Father Neil Gallanagh from 1975 to 1980. The abuse first came to light in 2002.
United States
St. Rita School for the Deaf (Cincinnati)
Since 2003, former students have been calling for ouster of priest Stanley Doerger, alleging he physically, sexually and verbally abused as many as 275 female students. The priest died in 2005.
In 1996 judge sentenced former priest William Earl Krouse IV was sentenced to 10 years in prison yesterday for molesting six boys between 1970 and 1978 (8 years).
Boston School for the Deaf (Randolph)
Nine former students allege that Catholic nuns at the school fondled and abused deaf children between 1944 and 1977 (33 years). They were abused when they were between the ages of 7 and 16.
Not Only From Catholic Schools
Finally, while this website focuses on Catholic schools because of the large number of cases around the world and the aberration of systematic abuses, there have also been many other cases in secular schools.
For example, one of the most shocking cases was the Gwangju Inhwa School (Gwangju, South Korea): according to a 2005 investigation, six teachers, including the principal, sexually molested or raped at least nine of their deaf students between 2000 and 2003. More victims were believed to have concealed additional crimes in fear of repercussions or because of trauma. Of the six perpetrators, four received prison terms, while the other two were freed immediately because the statute of limitations for their crimes had expired.