Abuse survivor speaks out in hopes of encouraging others to come forward

Warning: This story contains content some may find disturbing.

• The abuse by a serial paedophile who preyed on children at Catholic schools dates back to at least 1960
• Kevin Ronald Waters, who was known as Brother Giles, died in 2011 without facing justice
• A survivor of his abuse, Kevin Lundon, says the Marist Brother raped and violated him when he was a child at Xavier College
• He says Waters has abused dozens of young boys

An abuse survivor says his experience shows a serial paedophile, who taught at Catholic schools, was abusing children for decades.

Kevin Lundon was just a child when he was abused around 1960 by the man he knew as Brother Giles at Christchurch's Xavier College.

Kevin Ronald Waters - who took the name of Brother Giles after receiving the Habit from the Marist Brothers in the 1940s - spent a decade at Xavier College, in the shadow of the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament in Christchurch, during the 1970s and 1980s.

The Abuse in Care Royal Commission revealed sexual abuse carried out by Waters during that period, when he was principal of the intermediate at the Marist Brothers school.

However, Lundon said he was groomed and violated by Waters two decades earlier.

Lundon said he first met Waters, then aged in his early 30s, when he was just a boy at Xavier College in the late 1950s.

"It's lunchtime and we're in the playground and... this guy came up behind me and put his arms around me from behind, and it turned out to be this Brother Giles," he said.

"He started sort of feeling my lower stomach and I have always been a bit of a fat person and I can remember quite clearly, he said to me 'you're a little fatty', you know, rubbing my skin."

The Marist Brothers told RNZ their official appointment records did not show Brother Giles in Christchurch in the late 1950s.

However an electoral roll from 1959 showed Kevin Ronald Waters, a school teacher, living at 122 Barbados Street - the address of the Catholic Diocese of Christchurch.

The Marist Brothers also eventually acknowledged Waters was at Xavier College in 1960.

Lundon said the incident on the playground was the start of Waters grooming him.

Waters gave the boy a picture card of the Virgin Mary and claimed they shared a birthday, Lundon said.

"He said 'it's the first time it's ever happened since I've been teaching to have someone on the same day as mine'. So he said 'Oh, we've got a lot in common, haven't we?'," Lundon recalled.

Waters then started asking him to stay behind after school, claiming he wanted to help the boy with his homework.

"That's how he got me into remaining behind," Lundon said.

"It just sort of went from one thing to another sexually. First, sort of touching and that type of thing and then it just sort of grew and grew and grew until I was really sexually abused."

He was forced to perform oral sex on Waters and later raped.

"This happened probably about two or three times a month," Lundon said.

Lundon said the abuse continued throughout Waters' time at the school, but one year Lundon returned to school following the summer holidays and he was gone.

"I found out, the second day after I went back, that he wasn't there," he said.

"We just got talking to some of the boys and they say 'he's gone, he's not in Christchurch anymore, he's at the North Island teaching'."

Lundon later told another boy at school what happened and another had walked in while Waters had his hand down Lundon's swimming togs.

He assumed he was not Waters' only victim during that time but the boys did not speak freely about their experiences.

"It wasn't much talked about really. But if you got talking to some of the boys they might say sort of things like 'oh yeah, he grabbed me' or something like that or touched me or something, but they'd never say anything more than that."

Lundon said Waters' abuse had a lifelong impact on him.

His father knew something was wrong in his teenage years, though Lundon did not tell him about the abuse at the time.

"I used to get depressed, anxious, stressed - you name it. I don't know how many psychiatrists my father made me go and see," Lundon said.

"So I got put on medication and whatnot and... that's more or less what I've been like that all my life. I've always had to put up with these periods where I revert back to where I get depressed and have turns, panic attacks, anxiety. It's just a mental thing and I keep it under control with medication."

Lundon attended the school because of his family's deep Catholic faith.

He was a school prayer leader and an altar boy at the cathedral.

"They suggested to me I become a priest," he recalled.

"It might sound funny. I didn't think necessarily I didn't want it, but I looked at it honestly, that I wouldn't have been able to keep to it and it will just end in disaster."

He feared the priesthood would end badly because in his early adult years he discovered he was gay.

At a time of great persecution for gay men in Aotearoa, Waters' abuse only created more confusion in the young man's mind.

The country's homophobic culture also prevented Lundon from speaking out about what Waters had done.

"You couldn't go and tell anyone in the 70s or 80s because it was a crime to be a homosexual in those days," he said.

However many decades later, he finally went to police.

"I went to the police to make a complaint when the world started to change and the police told me to run away - I was making up stories," he said.

An officer accused him of lying to get money out of it, Lundon said.

He acknowledged the thought had entered his mind and did not pursue the matter further.

In a statement, Canterbury detective inspector Greg Murton acknowledged Lundon's complaint.

"Police can confirm a report of sexual offending against Kevin Waters was received in 2004, alleging abuse committed over a period of about a year around 1958-59," he said.

"A detective spoke with the victim and his solicitor several times and took a statement of complaint, however, the complaint was eventually withdrawn in April 2006. Waters was also interviewed and denied the allegations.

"The detective involved no longer works for police, so we are unable to further interrogate allegations made against him. What we can say is police today urge anyone who has a complaint about sexual offending, historic or not, to come forward and speak with us. You will be treated with dignity and respect, and we will work to ensure appropriate support is offered, as well as investigate where possible."

Lundon said he hoped telling his story would encourage others to come forward.

"The school, 20 years later, brought him back to be principal of the intermediate section. After all what had happened and then he was principal of the intermediate section. Why would they bring him back?" he said.

Another survivor gave evidence to the royal commission about Waters' abuse during his time as principal.

Waters groomed the boy by "teaching him about puberty, masturbation and ejaculation", the commission reported.

"He showed him pornography and would ask him if he had been practising."

Waters died in 2011 at the age of 83.

He was in his seventh decade with the Marist Brothers after commencing training at Claremont in Canterbury as a teenager in 1946.

In a statement, the Marist Brothers acknowledged Waters abused children he taught.

"Br Giles, a qualified primary school teacher, served at Xavier College Intermediate in Christchurch from 1976-85. Like all religious brothers, ministry in a single place is temporary. He took up ministry in Greymouth, Christchurch, Gisborne and Auckland," they said.

"In 1998 and 2004, there were two complaints relating to his time at Xavier College, alleging historical sexual abuse. Those complaints were managed through the Church's A Path To Healing protocol. Those investigations found that both complaints were upheld. Several additional complaints have been received since Br Giles' death in 2011.

"For the Marist Brothers, it is a tragic but inescapable part of our history that young persons were failed at Xavier Intermediate and elsewhere. The Marist Brothers Aotearoa New Zealand pay tribute to the courage and bravery of every person who has come forward to tell their story and share their experiences of abuse. These deeply harmful events should never have occurred. We apologise to these survivors, and acknowledge that the harmful and criminal actions of Brother Giles in his time at Xavier College Intermediate were totally contrary to what the Marist Brothers stand for."

Marist Brothers did not initially acknowledge Waters' earlier time at Xavier College.

Following further inquiries from RNZ, they said Waters was in Christchurch for one year in the 1960s, then later acknowledged that year was 1960.

A school magazine showed he was master in charge of the school library in 1960, while the Christchurch electoral roll showed his registered address as the Catholic Diocese of Christchurch in 1959.

The Marist Brothers' statement did not address RNZ's queries about whether complaints about Waters had been made by pupils at other schools and times, or whether complaints were received about any other staff at Xavier College.

Lundon said he later made a complaint to the church following Waters' death.

Following an investigation, he received a written apology and $20,000 in compensation.

"They acknowledged it happened, but perhaps not the impact that I've had," he said.

RNZ found records showing Waters had spent time teaching in Whanganui, Wellington, Greymouth, Auckland, Christchurch and Invercargill from the 1940s to the 1980s.

The royal commission said Brother Richard Dunleavy, vice-provincial of the Marist Brothers from 1982 to 1983, became aware of Waters' inappropriate behaviour.

"He received a complaint about Brother Giles (Kevin Waters) discussing 'sexual matters with his primary school class' at Xavier College in Ōtautahi Christchurch. Brother Richard decided the appropriate response was to send Brother Giles to a Marist Renewal Course for Older Brothers in Rome," the commission said.

"When Brother Giles returned from Rome in 1985, he was appointed to teach a Form 1 and 2 class in Gisborne. In 1986, Brother Giles was sent to Sacred Heart College in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland to assist with administrative work, where he remained until 2004. In 1998, a serious complaint of sexual abuse was received by the Marist Brothers concerning Brother Giles. Further complaints of sexual abuse were received from 2004."

Helplines

Where to get help:

• NZ Police.
• Victim Support 0800 842 846.
• Rape Crisis: 0800 88 33 00.
• Rape Prevention Education.
• Empowerment Trust.
• HELP (Auckland): 09 623 1700, (Wellington): 04 801 6655.
• Safe to talk: 0800 044 334.
• Tautoko Tāne Male Survivors Aotearoa.
• Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) 022 344 0496.

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