A Mandurah man who suffered horrific abuse at a Catholic orphanage has shared his story in the hope that no one else will ever have to endure what he did.
Sacha Mahboub, 77, suffered mental torment, ridicule and floggings – by the nuns entrusted with his care over 11 years at St Joseph’s orphanage in Neerkol, Queensland.
In 2015, Sacha told his story of the repeated psychological, physical and sexual abuse to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.
Sacha said a “huge majority” of children were abused at the Neerkol orphanage when he lived there during the fifties.
“What children endured was vile and degrading – it is classed as one of the most horrendous examples,” he said.
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“The psychological as well as physical abuse permeated everything they did.”
Sacha said he was sexually abused by a senior prefect for years.
On one occasion, Sacha said he was repeatedly belted on his bare back by a nun with a thin leather belt from a pedal Singer sewing machine, causing welts, bleeding and swelling.
Sacha said he was told by the nun to show a new boy his injuries.
I was terribly lonely and lived in fear of the next form of punishment.
- Sacha Mahboub
“You can only imagine what was going through that boys head – he must have been terrified.”
Sacha remembers a cruel act performed by the nuns when he was seven years old.
“I had received a beautifully wrapped present on Christmas,” he said.
“When I opened the box there was another smaller box inside and inside that one there was another and so on, until finally the last box had a note inside which read, ‘You don’t deserve anything this Christmas.”
Organised religion is mainly political and money driven – it’s all about control and power.
- Sacha Mahboub
In an attempt to survive the abuse, Sacha dissociated from the world.
“There were things going on around me, but it didn’t compute,” he said.
“It was a way to survive – by dissociating.
“I was terribly lonely and lived in fear of the next form of punishment.”
Sacha said his sister Lyndsay attended the orphanage, but they were not allowed to see each other.
“She passed away not too long ago, spending her last years with severe depression,” he said.
But, after all of this, Sacha believes he is one of the lucky ones.
After leaving the orphanage Sacha experienced his first taste of happiness working on a dairy farm and later became heavily involved in theatre.
He found adjusting into real life a struggle, to say the least.
“I had no idea how to conduct myself in normal society,” he said.
Sacha said he fell in and out of relationships in search of connection, not knowing how to form a meaningful relationship until he met Peter.
I was surprised how it affected me, I guess because someone said sorry.
- Sacha Mahboub on the prime minister's national apology to victims of institutional child sex abuse
The couple of 31 years formed a special bond over their shared love of theatre and tied the knot in March, at the Mandurah Performing Arts Centre.
The pair are challenged by Sacha’s resurfacing trauma, but Peter Keogh said he admired his husband’s strength and resilience.
“It is very hard to see Sash, after all these years, feeling the emotional pain still,” he said.
“He’s an extraordinary, brave man.”
The fight to be heard
Sacha said religious organisations should be taxed and regulated by the government and believes if they had been, the systematic abuse may not have arisen in the first place.
“Organised religion is mainly political and money driven – it’s all about control and power,” he said.
“If they paid tax the government could see what they are up to, where their money is going and the boards’ operations.
“They shouldn’t get a free ride, just because they’re a religious entity.
“The problem grew over the years because no one was there to monitor them and they don’t answer to anyone.”
Sacha said his lawyers were facing hurdles navigating the National Redress Scheme, recommended by the royal commission.
“There are still problems coming up with the redress,” he said.
“At one point they did not want to acknowledge my generation because it was too long ago.”
Sacha said Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s national apology in October was an emotional experience.
“I was surprised how it affected me, I guess because someone said sorry,” he said.
Sacha will continue to share his story to fight for justice and ensure the abuse will not happen again.
“I am determined. It doesn’t matter what they put me through I will see this to the end – they’re not going to beat me,” he said.
“I have to do this for myself.”