Court told to punish Catholic groups

A lawyer has called for Catholic organisations being sued for $550,000 for abuse and neglect to be punished for trying to conceal legal duties they knew applied to a former Upper Hutt orphanage.

In closing submissions in the High Court at Wellington yesterday Helen Cull, QC, said the Catholic groups failed to disclose their duty to children's care, control safety and welfare, under the Child Welfare Act 1924.

She said the tactic taken by two trust boards was reprehensible and deserved punishment in the form of higher damages.

A woman, 45, is suing the trust boards of the Sisters of Mercy (Wellington) and St Joseph's Orphanage over events from 1968 to 1977.

Her name has been suppressed, as have those of many nuns and others involved in the case.

Ms Cull said the woman was suing for the psychological and psychiatric damage - including post-traumatic stress disorder - not for individual acts of physical, emotional, verbal and sexual abuse.

The Catholic groups denied the woman's claims on factual and legal grounds.

Justice Marion Frater reserved her decision.

Wellington's Catholic Archdiocese and Catholic Social Services are also being sued.

The claimant's allegations include that a nun's repeated open-handed slaps punctured her eardrum.

She says six men, including a priest, sexually abused her.

Ms Cull said the Catholic groups' attempt to avoid responsibility by saying they were voluntary charitable organisations should be treated with scorn. They took on the responsibility and the state paid them accordingly. They were also liable for the actions of foster parents.

The defendants said accident compensation rules barred part of the claimant's civil suit, but Ms Cull said that overlooked a significant part of ACC law.

- NZPA