Tusla sought assurances from Order of Malta over child protection concerns

Tusla, the child and family agency, sought assurances from the Order of Malta that all cases of alleged child sexual abuse in the first aid organisation had been reported to authorities, amid concerns about its handling of allegations.

The organisation has been dealing with the fallout of a child sex abuse controversy since last year, after two of its volunteers were jailed over the abuse of two teenage boys.

A Tusla regional manager escalated concerns about the voluntary organisation in late April 2023, sending a “need to know” notification to the agency’s national office.

The high-level notice, released to The Irish Times under the Freedom of Information Act, followed information shared during a meeting with Tusla staff and gardaí earlier that month.

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Tusla redacted details of what was discussed at the meeting, as it related to current Garda investigations. The April 27th notification recommended all local Tusla offices check whether they had received notifications of alleged abuse involving the Order of Malta.

The escalated concern within Tusla came nearly a year after the second of two Order of Malta volunteers were jailed over the abuse of two teenage boys.

The main perpetrator, Scott Browne (33), from Co Kildare, was jailed for 9½ years in 2020 for sexually abusing two 15-year-old boys in separate incidents over a fortnight in 2018.

In both instances the teenagers had been knocked unconscious with strong pain relief medication Browne had stolen from the first-aid organisation, before being molested.

Another volunteer from Kildare, Jordan Murphy (22), was jailed for 5½ years in May 2022 for aiding and abetting Browne during the abuse.

The ambulance corps had failed to act on two reports of Browne allegedly sexually assaulting young men in the organisation, before the abuse of the 15-year-olds in 2018.

It is understood a Garda investigation is ongoing into several further alleged sexual assaults by Browne.

At the end of the initial criminal cases last year the organisation’s board ordered an internal review of child protection policies, with a further independent review commissioned later.

Senior Tusla staff met with Department of Children officials on May 24th, 2023, to discuss “current concerns” about the organisation.

A Tusla review of the organisation’s child safeguarding policy statement in 2020 found it fell short of required standards, but was later brought into compliance, the meeting heard.

Claire McCabe, Tusla regional manager for Dublin Mid-Leinster, said John Byrne, Order of Malta chief executive, had indicated he was “not aware of any recent child protection concerns”.

The department’s chief social worker, Des Delaney, questioned whether they could be assured all cases of alleged or suspected abuse had been reported to authorities by the Order of Malta, according to the minutes.

The culture of the organisation needed to be part of its planned independent review, given it possibly had a similar structure to St John Ambulance, Patricia Finlay, Tusla chief regional officer, said.

In a major report earlier this year, Mr Justice Geoffrey Shannon found St John Ambulance’s structure and culture previously “facilitated” the grooming of children, and failed to act on a “significant degree of organisational awareness” boys were being allegedly abused.

Following the meeting Ms McCabe wrote to the Order of Malta, stating Tusla needed to “seek assurances” that any child protection concerns or cases of possible child abuse had been reported to the agency and gardaí.

She also requested a copy of the previous internal review it completed last year, as well as the terms of reference of the independent report.

A spokeswoman for Tusla said it was continuing to liaise with the Order of Malta but could not comment further at this time. The Order of Malta did not respond to repeated requests for comment.