Concerns raised over Order of Malta’s handling of alleged sexual abuse following investigation

An internal Order of Malta investigation into a volunteer’s alleged inappropriate sexual behaviour towards youth members raised concerns over how the organisation handled a previous allegation the man had tied up and sexually abused a teenager.

The teenager made a complaint to the first-aid organisation in 2013 alleging a senior officer had made inappropriate sexual comments to him when he was underage.

The teenager alleged the man made sexual advances on him several days after he turned 18 and in one incident had attempted to tie him up while the pair were alone in a storage room.

It also established the man often drove the boy home in his car alone, in breach of child protection rules.

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The report detailed an allegation of sexual abuse had been made about the male volunteer by another teenage member three years before, but he had not been removed from the organisation.

In that case a young man claimed the senior volunteer had tied him up in a store room before sexually abusing him. An internal team was set up to examine the allegations, but was stood down when the alleged victim became nervous about proceeding with the process.

The 2013 report found the teenager in the previous case described feeling “abandoned” by the organisation and was critical of the decision to shelve the previous investigation.

‘Failed’ duty

The report recommended the Order of Malta launch a review into whether the organisation had “failed” in its duty of care by not proceeding with the inquiry, despite the hesitation of the alleged victim.

The report also raised concerns that the abuse allegations needed to be reported to statutory authorities, if that had not been done at the time.

A further alleged incident was uncovered where another young male volunteer claimed he had been tied up in the same storage unit while alone with the accused, who then allegedly made “sexual gestures” towards him, the report said.

Child protection standards in the Order of Malta have been under scrutiny recently after two other former ambulance corps volunteers were jailed over the sexual abuse of two 15-year-old boys. At the conclusion of that criminal case in May the organisation commissioned an internal review, which is ongoing.

In the 2013 case the volunteer subject to the complaints was interviewed and denied all the allegations. In relation to alleged inappropriate comments and behaviour towards the teenage member who made the complaint the volunteer said his actions had been misinterpreted.

The report said when screenshots of the “explicit sexual nature” of messages he sent the teenager on Facebook were raised the accused said he was “ashamed” and admitted to “poor judgment”.

Another adult volunteer interviewed stated he had witnessed the accused travelling alone with the teenage member in his car, in breach of child protection guidelines.

The report upheld several of the teenager’s complaints about inappropriate sexual comments, and found the volunteer was in breach of the organisation’s code of conduct for officers. The report noted it was unable to interview the accused further about several of the allegations.

A spokeswoman for the Order of Malta said the accused was no longer a member, adding as the internal report was “historical” it could not comment further “without a more robust review of the facts”.