Saturday 3 September 2011

In an Abuse Survivor's Own Words.


In 2009 “Team Voice” published THIS BLOG POSTING. As a response to a letter published in Jersey’s ONLY “News”paper (below) we feel the need to publish the video and transcript of Abuse Survivor Carrie Modral once more.

We are doing this in the hope that people like Mrs. Astrid Kisch, and others, might gain a little more understanding of Child Abuse and its destruction of people’s lives. Not only the lives of the Victims but also that of their families, loved one’s partners etc.

The Abuse victims/survivors never asked for any of this, yet they continue to be abused, by the ignorance of people like Mrs Kisch, the "accredited" media, the Law Offices and the majority of our government.

Below is the letter, or part of, that was published in the Jersey Evening Post. Below that is the statement which was read out by Miss Modral in September 2009.

JEP LETTER.

Why do we have to give our money? From Astrid Kisch

"I AM puzzled. The alleged perpetrators of the care home discipline of those days have been convicted, so the revenge part has been dealt with and the wrongs righted-at great expense to the taxpayer. The care leavers have grown up and made their lives a long time ago. Now, I understand, they are asking for 'compensation' by which I assume they mean money.
Question: Why do other people i.e.the taxpayers,have to give them money and for what purpose?"

Villa Martinique, Chemin du Moulin, St. Ouen. (END)

Transcript of Carrie Modral’s Press Statement.

Due to the sensitivity of these matters and the confidentiality of the enquiries that might still be on-going this Press Conference will be restricted to the reading of a statement only by Carrie Modral

No questions will be taken.

The Press are requested to respect the privacy of the Care Leavers in these very difficult circumstances where so much information has already been published with regard to these extraordinary investigations.

However, in the public interest, we also seek the cooperation of the media in Jersey in presenting these concerns from the people most affected, namely the victims and survivors of child abuse at the several Jersey institutions and care homes and ask that you present our statement in full.

Thank you.

"For the past 2 years or so the people of Jersey have lived with the horrors of the unfolding story of Haut de la Garenne and related matters. We, on the other hand, the so called “victims of historic child abuse” have lived with the horrors for decades.

We are a group of people only because we all share a similar dreadful experience. We were all innocent children but we are as different from one another as any other people in society. We all had our own individual characters, ambitions and abilities.

Some of us have survived our experience better than others. Some have found happiness with our own families but some have found personal relationships impossible to achieve. Others sadly have succumbed to despair. But, we were all damaged in some way as a result of the abuse that we suffered whilst in the care of the States of Jersey.

When the States of Jersey Police announced 2 years ago that investigations were being commenced into child abuse allegations at various care homes, we responded with some reluctance to the call to come forward with our testimonies.

Many of us have tried to make complaints to officials about our abuse in the past, but have not been believed or have been further humiliated or worse. To re-live the experiences of our childhood abuse, even amongst family and friends, is an extremely stressful experience and it is not something that we undertake with any enthusiasm.

Nevertheless, we were given every assurance by Lenny Harper and his Police team that our experiences would be treated seriously and would be properly investigated and so far as we are aware, the investigations by Lenny Harper and his team were carried out with care and sympathetically.

We had no reason at all to believe that the Jersey Police were not managing our cases in a professional manner.  We were at all times kept informed of the progress of our individual cases and we were led to believe that those who had abused us would be prosecuted where ever possible. We had no complaints about our treatment by the States of Jersey Police whilst Lenny Harper was in charge of the investigations.
However, since Lenny Harper retired, we have found that the States of Jersey Police have consistently failed to communicate directly with us, or to keep us informed of progress on our individual cases or the investigation in general.

On the contrary, we have repeatedly discovered through the media that the standards of Police conduct are hotly disputed; that there are allegations of incompetence and malpractice and such information has not been the result of casual rumour, but the deliberate outpourings of the most Senior Police Officers themselves. And most of us have learned, by the same means that more and more cases have been abandoned and that now, only one or two prosecutions only might yet be initiated, but we do not know which these might be, if any.  There have only been three cases taken to Court to date, all of which came back with a guilty verdict and all as a result of the work carried out by Lenny Harper and his team.

During the past 2 years we have had the most private and painful details of our lives broadcast world-wide. These details have been discussed, analysed, argued and fought over, in public, by police officers, politicians, lawyers, journalists and every Tom, Dick or Harry. Our emotions have been mangled. Our dignity stripped bare and our reputations and motivations called into question.
We did not and do not deserve such treatment.

During the past two weeks the public of Jersey has been exposed to a barrage of information via the Jersey media from, and interviews with, retiring police officer Gradwell which has totally rubbished the credibility of the entire investigation carried out by Lenny Harper and his team. In addition, the public have been told that the enormous expenditure is not justified.

 All this has taken place in an Island where the Chief of Police is suspended from duty for reasons which have not been made public and our Political and Judicial heads seem to take every opportunity to discredit us, our complaints or the manner in which these have been dealt with. Yet, nobody made any official attempt to prior warn us that these things were likely to happen or that our cases might have been handled with such incompetence.  Nobody has offered us even the hint of an apology that such things have been allowed to happen. They should all hang their heads in shame.


Once again, we who were abused as children and at every turn when we sought help have been treated with contempt by the Jersey Police and other island authorities. We have been humiliated yet again and are now presented in the public mind as the cause of many problems whereas we are, in fact the totally innocent victims.

Now, the investigation is in disarray. But our lives are more damaged than they were 2 years ago because we have dared to trust in the Jersey Judicial system and to cooperate with the Jersey Police, we are being abused all over again.

We are reluctant to offer any public statement on these matters because every word that is uttered only adds to our grief and the discontent among our families and friends. We are also aware that enquiries still continue and we do not want to say anything that could harm these cases.

 But we want the public of Jersey to understand that we did not wish for any of these things to happen. We have only sought to achieve justice for the wrongs committed against us when we were children whist in the care of the States of Jersey and we have been let down very, very badly, all over again.

May God forgive you."

Carrie Modral (END)

Let us hope that the courage shown by Carrie Modral and other Abuse Survivors, by speaking out, will educate the ignorant.




10 comments:

  1. Great Reply Carrie, but 1 thing you should have pointed out to this very ignorant lady & to others who read this, it is not coming from Tax Payers Money & I for 1 am sick to death of being told that.

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  2. Carrie

    Your grace and dignity shine through every word. The Jersey abuse survivors are well served by your courageous and resolute firmness.

    Elle

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  3. Carrie is a complete and utter legend

    rs

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  4. Well said Carrie, another excellent report.

    I personally found it abhorrent to read Astrid Kisch’s letter it’s contents are in my opinion inexcusably callous, cruel and totally devoid of any empathy what-so-ever for any of those who have been repeatedly abused in the island.

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  5. what a very silly and small minded lady to write such a letter

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  6. The bottom line is - does it make any difference at all whose money is paying for this compensation?

    This 'lady' as someone has so graciously called her somehow feels that by virtue of the fact that those at the lower end of the scale of abuse that HAVE been brought to justice that makes everything ok and hunky-dory.

    Well in fact, no it does not. Indeed, in her ignorance she has no concept of how many victims of far worse abuse have not been brought to justice, how the States of Jersey have brought about all the negative publicity that still
    abounds on this issue by virtue of it's own failing to face the facts and act on them honourably and honestly.

    I am almost sorry for this 'lady' who clearly cannot have any concept of the harm and damage that have been caused to innocent children in their formative years courtesy the States of Jersey.

    I can only assume she has never been a mother herself.

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  7. Letter in the JEP today. Don't know how it slipped through the editor(s).


    Name and address withheld.

    AS a former resident of Haut de la Garenne I am outraged by the letter from Astrid Kisch (JEP, 30 August) about the care leavers.
    Mrs Kisch states that the care leavers have ‘grown up and made their lives long ago’.

    Some care leavers have been lucky enough to make something of their lives but many have been so traumatised by their abuse that they have never reached their full potential.

    Many have broken marriages and relationships because they find it hard to trust people. Many kept quiet about their childhood experiences for decades and in 2008 when it all came out they had to face the truth and talk to the police to try to get justice for themselves and for their fellow survivors.

    Several care-leavers have been so affected by the past that they have used coping strategies like alcohol which has caused further problems in their relationships. This, coupled with anger and frustration about what they suffered, has led some into problems with the law.

    There has been a knock-on effect for the children of survivors because everybody in the family has felt the shock waves of these terrible revelations. Some people have developed serious anxiety disorders and severe depression and tragically some have taken their own lives. I fear more will take this route in the future if nothing more is done.

    Mrs Kisch states that the ‘alleged perpetrators’ have been convicted. If they are convicted this is not alleged. This is not true anyway. There are dozens of people who have not been convicted of or even charged with extremely serious crimes because the investigation was never completed. Some suspects were released without charge despite strong evidence. Some have escaped conviction by dying before they could be charged. Their crimes still need to be acknowledged.

    Mrs Kisch states that those convicted were guilty of ‘discipline’. I think we all know that the allegations against many were far more serious than that.

    Mrs Kisch states that these ‘wrongs have been righted’ at the expense of the tax-payer. She also claims that this was done out of ‘revenge’ by the survivors. These wrongs are very far from being righted as only a full independent inquiry into the whole sorry matter can even start this process.

    The ‘expense’ she refers to, I assume, is the cost of the investigation. This was a small amount compared to some projects in Jersey such as the cost of the police headquarters, otherwise known as the Green Street fiasco.
    Mrs Kisch asks why the tax-payers have to pay compensation to the survivors and what for. Money can never give these people back their childhood but it can provide a little comfort to people and families whose lives have been shattered beyond repair.

    Article posted on 7th September, 2011 - 2.31pm

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  8. I see Astrid Kisch is fighting back again in the Filthy Rag.

    What a truly sad, misinformed woman and how very wrong she is in her 'assumptions'.

    Is she really a human being?

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  9. Jill.

    Unfortunately this ill informed ignorant "lady" represents a lot of the "good Jersey folks" feelings. Naturally the JEP is more than happy to peddle them.

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  10. Somehow I doubt that money is the underlying issue with Astrid and her fellow subhumans. There are so many areas of inarguable financial squandering to inspire citizen outrage, but she has not made herself any prior champion of cutting waste of public money.

    No. Something is very wrong with this woman and any newspaper publishing her bizarrely cruel opinions. Why is she so adamant yet so willfully ignorant, as illustrated by her premise that if a few child abusers have already been convicted, enough justice has been served? She obviously cannot know that she has suffered more than over a hundred abuse survivors, probably none of whom are close acquaintances, but whom I suspect she holds in real contempt.

    There is such palpable hostility contained in her words that at the least she must be engaging in a kind of verbal class warfare. Does she feel personally protective of one or more abuse perpetrators? Perhaps in Astrid's world, if someone violently rapes a small child but cleans up well and presents himself as perfectly mannered in time for tea, he is a decent fellow - compared to the child.

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