Two army superiors allegedly waged a campaign of sexual abuse against male recruits at a Defence Forces training base. The young soldiers are alleged to have been plied with alcohol before being sexually assaulted and even raped.
ne victim demanded the historical abuse of male Defence Forces personnel now be included in the garda inquiry into sexual predators announced by Commissioner Drew Harris in the wake of the Women of Honour revelations.
A total of 26 allegations of sexual assault of female members of the Defence Forces are currently being investigated by gardaí.
A second male victim, who spoke to the Irish Independent, said two non-commissioned officers (NCOs) at one training camp in Munster targeted teenage boys throughout the 1970s and 80s.
A retired Defence Forces officer said he was aware of the allegations levelled by one victim and found them to be credible. The two NCOs involved, both of whom are now dead, suffered from serious alcohol problems and were regarded with suspicion by some senior officers.
Both retired from the Defence Forces with full pensions, but one had such a poor service record he was denied full military honours.
The allegations mirror similar complaints made about the targeting of teenage recruits at the Curragh Camp in Kildare by different NCOs in the 1960s, 70s and 80s.
Kildare gardaí investigated the Curragh abuse allegations, but indicated they appeared to have been opportunistic rather than systematic.
One alleged victim said he believed there were dozens of male teenagers who fell prey to the two NCOs over their years involved in recruit training in the south.
“These men have been trapped in a living hell since their teenage years because of what was done to them, and how they were bullied and frightened into remaining silent about wrongs done to them,” said the man.
He said he was abused in the early 1980s at a Defence Forces training base in the south of the country.
“My family had a great association with the Army and I was very proud to join. I thought it was the greatest career you could have – I was serving my country and my father was proud to see me wear the uniform,” he said.
However, having joined in one Munster county, the man was sent to a base in another for training, and was quickly targeted by one of the NCOs at the centre of the allegations.
“It was early in 1982 and I was asleep in my billet with the other recruits,” said the man, adding that he woke up during the night “in what I would call a dream-like state” and realised someone was touching him inappropriately.
He said he realised it was the senior NCO responsible for his training.
“I told him to f**k off, but he looked at me and said, ‘You like that, don’t you?’ I was knocked for six.”
The man said he was then targeted in a further four sexual assaults over the next 18 months and was warned not to speak about it. He said he was terrified of the consequences of informing senior officers of what had happened.
The man said recruits were warned they risked their careers, promotion, overseas deployments and even being branded as gay by their colleagues.
One of the final alleged attacks on the trainee soldier took place in a single bedroom he had specifically asked for, going to sleep only after locking the door for his own safety.
However, he did not realise the NCO had keys to all the private bedrooms in the accommodation block.
“I went to my platoon officer and told him I wanted to leave,” said the man. “I didn’t tell him precisely what had happened because I was afraid and did not think I would be believed. He told me I was making the biggest mistake of my life.
“This was Ireland in the 1980s. There was a recession and I would be leaving a good army job and going back into civilian life without any skills or training.”
Later, he suffered a breakdown in the wake of what was done to him and, at one point, tried to take his own life.
He recovered, however, and served his full term in the Defence Forces before retiring with a full pension and military honours over a decade ago.
In 2010-11, he said he contacted the Department of Defence, the Defence Forces and gardaí regarding the abuse he suffered.
This followed a period of counselling from 2007 when he tried to face up to what had been done to him.
“I was told I wanted to retire with a clear conscience about what was done to me. I think that was probably true. I was in absolute fear, that’s why I hid it for so long,” he said.
The man is convinced the alleged activities of the two NCOs must have been widely known.
A garda investigation was launched, but no prosecution was sanctioned because of the passage of time and the medical condition of the two NCOs at the centre of the claims.
Both men were questioned, but by that time the pair were at an advanced age and suffering from a range of medical conditions including advanced alcoholism and coronary heart disease. They died a short time later without having faced charges.
The first victim’s allegations are similar to the abuse complaint of a second recruit who went through the same training base in the 1980s.
He was invited to a gathering one evening near the base, which was attended by one of the NCOs during training, and said he was plied with alcohol before passing out.
When he awoke, he was in pain and realised he had been subjected to a serious sexual assault. “I was told [by the NCO] to keep my mouth shut and that I would be looked after in terms of a cushy job and any overseas service that I wanted.”
The man never lodged a formal complaint about what had happened to either the Defence Forces or the gardaí.
“But it destroyed me – I was broken inside,” he said. “How the hell do you live with knowing what was done to you? They were pure evil.”
One of the victims said one of the NCOs involved was also alleged to have sexually assaulted a third teenage recruit during a Unifil deployment to Lebanon in the early 1980s. However, this man did not want to speak about the incident.
A Defence Forces spokesperson said they do not comment on individual cases.
“The Defence Forces welcomes the establishment of the new unit set up by An Garda Síochána to investigate sexual assaults in the Defence Forces and fully supports this initiative,” the spokesperson said.
The 26 cases that have been reported to An Garda Síochána – years before the publication of the Independent Review Group – span a period from the 1960s.
“The Defence Forces Military Police Corps have themselves referred a number of these cases to An Garda Síochána and they stand ready to assist if required at any stage,” the spokesperson said.
In relation to serving and retired members of the Defence Forces, the spokesperson said a number of supports are in place. These include an independent and external confidential contact person (CCP) with Raiseaconcern; Inspire, which is a 24/7 confidential counselling service; a personnel support service (PSS) for serving members; and a chaplaincy service.
The PSS officer and occupational social worker network in each brigade/formation supports serving personnel and their families in times of crisis and general difficulty.
Services include provision of a wide range of information and advice, stress management, counselling and referral to specialist assistance.
Those affected by sexual crimes are urged to contact the Garda National Protective Services Bureau.
However, one source said the latest allegations of abuse underlined the need for the law to be changed to include personal responsibility for offenders.
“Where victims or injured parties take a civil suit it is always against the Department of Defence, Ireland and the Attorney General,” said the source.
“It is now time to consider bringing forward legislation where predators and bullies end up having their gratuity and pension deducted to pay compensation for their bad behaviour. Why should it be left to taxpayers to foot the entire bill?”
Gardaí confirmed a complaint was received in 2010-11 and an investigation carried out. No one was ever charged.
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'I was broken, they were pure evil' – two male Defence Forces recruits allege they were sexually abused by two superiors - Independent.ie
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