TWO victims of child abuse carried out at a boys’ home in Walcha are about to find out why their perpetrator was never punished, in spite of being convicted of indecent assault.
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The victims, now middle-aged men, have asked NSW Attorney-General Greg Smith to find out why no action was taken against “Sarge” Albert Holloway, the “brutal and sadistic” husband of the matron of Ohio Boys Homes in Walcha.
They are also preparing a statement for the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.
The men, from Armidale and Glen Innes, are the latest to come forward with their tales of terror from the now-closed boys’ home.
Nearly a decade ago, 10 victims were gagged from speaking about their ordeal by the Anglican Church after signing confidentiality clauses associated with compensation.
The abuse was only discovered after three boys ran away from the home, in 1955.
That year, Holloway was convicted by an Armidale jury of seven charges of indecent assault on one boy and one charge of common assault on another boy.
He was placed on a three-year good behaviour bond.
But in an unusual move, the attorney-general of the day refused to file bills against Holloway, essentially dropping the case.
Holloway died a few years after his conviction, but his crimes against the boys left a lifetime’s memory.
In 2001, some victims sought information about the case from NSW Police, to no avail.
The latest victims have asked Mr Smith to find out why one of his predecessors ordered Holloway not to be punished, in spite of his conviction. NSW MLC Scot MacDonald has been working on the case.
Mr MacDonald said yesterday: “These men do not want the issue buried any longer.
“They want their inquiries responded to properly and for the whole affair to be brought into the open.”
He said the case for justice for the victims was deemed of such importance it warranted a non-partisan approach and as such, he had been working closely with New England MP Tony Windsor’s office for a speedy resolution. Mr Windsor is helping the men bring their case to the royal commission.
Mr MacDonald said: “One of the victims who came forward was terribly shy,” he said.
“He simply wanted justice after carrying around the scars for so many years.”
One of the victims who was gagged by the church after signing a confidentiality agreement, John Hill, told the ABC in 2004 that he remembered Holloway as a “brutal and sadistic” man.
“You got 12 with the sandal on your bare backside,” Mr Hill told the AM radio program.
“At one stage he [Holloway] resorted to putting emery paper on the sandal, gluing it to the sandal, and bashing you at an angle and then rubbing turps on your backside.
“And you took off out of there like a rabbit with its bum on fire.”
Mr MacDonald said he expected a response from Mr Smith within the next few weeks.
