Qld: Orphan says Hollingworth too busy to see him

AAP General News (Australia)
12-21-2001
Qld: Orphan says Hollingworth too busy to see him

BRISBANE, Dec 21 AAP - A man suing the Anglican Church over alleged abuse he endured
in an orphanage claims he tried to seek a meeting with former Brisbane Archbishop Peter
Hollingworth but he had been too busy to see him.

Dr Hollingworth, now the Governor-General, has expressed regret that legal and insurance
considerations had prevented the church from taking a more active role in helping children
affected by abuse at the Toowoomba Preparatory School.

Earlier this month, a court ordered the Anglican Diocese of Brisbane to pay $834,800
damages to a 24-year-old woman sexually abused by a former boarding master at the school.

The church has maintained it knew nothing about the activities of Kevin George Guy
until the day he suicided in 1990, leaving a letter saying he had loved 20 girls at the
school.

The Courier-Mail newspaper today reported that 36-year-old Alec Spencer had wanted
to meet Archbishop Hollingworth to discuss his experiences at St George's Anglican orphanage
at Rockhampton.

"Dr Hollingworth indicated he was too busy to see me then and was going on long service
leave and would not be available for some time," the paper quoted Mr Spencer as saying.

The then archbishop's refusal to see him was one reason he and six other orphanage
residents launched legal proceedings against the state government and the church in September
last year.

Abuses he allegedly suffered at the orphanage and listed in the Supreme Court statement
of claim included the attachment of live electrical wires to his genitals and the flushing
of his head in toilet bowls full of faeces, the Courier-Mail reported.

Mr Spencer is a former Young Queenslander and Young Achiever of the Year, a former
national director of Teen Challenge and manager of Drug Arm.

AAP rad/cjh/sb

KEYWORD: HOLLINGWORTH ORPHAN

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