“Done once”

A document related to Brother Lawrence Lambert fic and the sex abuse scandal at St. Mary’s International School (SMIS) in Tokyo has been posted. The undated document, title  “Agreement (First draft),” was drafted by representatives from SMIS, a prestigious boy’s school in Japan founded and operated by the Canadian wing Brothers of Christian Instruction/Mennasians. .

In order to put the “agreement” into context, there are a few things you must know. I will expound on a few of these later

1. The victim is Jewish;
2. The victim’s father was an Australian diplomat;
3. The child was sodomised by Brother Lawrence Lambert fic in the SMIS chapel;
4. The boy was 11-years-old;
5. The boy was in the chapel eating what was for him a Kosher treat, rollmops – essentially pickled herring;
6. The child was warned that if he told anyone the same thing would be done to his little brother, also a student at the school;
8. The maid  saw the blood on the little boy’s underwear;
9. Brother John Paradis knew. That’s Brother John Paradis/Jean-Emile Paradis,/Brotehr Paul Paradis headmaster at SMIS.

Now, take a quick read through the wording of the Agreement in its tortured English. And indeed it is tortured.

Here it is:   Agreement (First draft) with Brother Lawrence victim and Brothers of Christian Instruction Japan-Philippines (blog commentary attached)

You can see that the document was obviously intended to recap the proceedings of a meeting whereby a settlement/agreement had been reached between the Brothers of Christian Instruction and the victim.

That agreement, however, was never signed. For that matter, no agreement was signed. Ever.

There was a meeting. There was not, however, an  “agreement.”

Furthermore, if we were to believe the contents of the document we would conclude that a Mr. Tadashi Chigira was both in attendance and a signatory to the agreement.

Not.

The truth of the matter that the draft was penned wistfully and no doubt hopefully and prophetically, long before the 21 January 2014 meeting transpired.

Yes, the victim was there.

Yes, Brother Lawrence Lambert, a ruthless predator was there.

And yes. Brother Ducharme, Vice-Provincial of the Canadian branch of the Menasians in Japan and the Philippines was there

There was no Mr. Chigira.

For that matter, there was no lawyer.

The victim had concluded that since he would not be represented or accompanied by a lawyer at the meeting SMIS had no need of a lawyer.

Ergo, there was no lawyer at the meeting.

Nor, for that matter, as I said before, was there a signed ‘agreement.’

Closer look at the draft “Agreement”

Now for a closer look at a few of the points raised in the draft and some further elaboration on exactly what Brother Lawrence did to that;little Jewish boy in the SMIS chapel and the magnitude of the cover-up involving Brother Lawrence

(1)   After many exchanges on electronic mail between Mr. {Redacted], victim of a sexual abuse, and Br. Raymond Ducharme, representative of the Religious Corporation of the Brothers of Christian Instruction Japan-Philippines (宗教法人　カトリック・キリスト教教育修士会), henceforth representative of Br. Lawrence Lambert, member of that organization, assailant in the sexual abuse done once to Mr. [Redacted]at St.-Mary’s International School, at that time located in Tokyo, Shinagawa ward, in 1965. [Emphasis added]

Note:  ” done once”

“done once”?

Who decided to insert those two words, “done once”?

And, why? What purpose do they serve?

Why not, for example, say: “Lawrence Lambert….assailant in the sexual abuse to Mr. [Redacted]”?

Ah yes. Silly me, –  “done once” is essentially synonymous with “only once.” In other words, it ‘only’ happened once.  Let’ us never therefore forget that it happened once.

Indeed.  Only once. That must be it. “’Only’ once.

Let’s take a look and think this through, and here I will take the opportunity to elaborate further on what exactly was “done once” or happened ‘only’ once to that little Jewish boy in that SMIS chapel

–  It was only once that Brother Lawrence grabbed the child and molested him.. Once.

–  It was only once that this Roman Catholic brother pushed the child over the edge of the table in the chapel and sodomised the little boy. Only once.

–  It was only once that the child was thus punished by Brother Lawrence for eating Kosher Rollmops (pungent pickled herring) in the chapel. (Yes, that’s what the boy was told:  he was being punished for eating in the chapel!)   But, yes, just once.

–  It was only once that the little Jewish boy being sodomised stared at the prayer books or hymn books on the table. . Since this was 1965 I think they may well have been missals?  No matter, decades later the boy is a man, and he still remembers looking at those books. But, ah yes, while that once seemed to last an eternity for the boy, it was, well, after all, only “done once”

–  It was only once after it was all over that the terrified boy watched Brother Lawrence dip a handkerchief in “the water bowl ” and then proceed to wipe his, Lambert’s,  genitalia clean with the wet hankie. Was the “water bowl” in fact a holy water font or bowl of holy water? I think so. There would have been a font or bowl for holy water in the chapel.   No matter, the cleansing of Brother Lawrence’s genitalia – probably with holy water – was witnessed, – just once.

–  And, of yes, it’s true, the child was threatened ‘only’ once. The little Jewish boy was warned that if he told anyone what had happened the same thing would happen to his seven-year-old brother , also a student at SMIS .  But, well, the threat was just “done once.” That was all.  Just once.

– I suppose on the “done once” theme I could add that discovery of blood on the boy’s underwear by the family maid was “done once” too?

– And that taking the scared and reluctant boy to see the embassy doctor was also “done once”?

– And yes, I could even add that once sodomy was confirmed informing SMIS Headmaster Brother John Paradis fic (Paul-Emile Paradis) was just “done once”?

(2) “in the synagogue on….”

Yes, the 21 January 2014 meeting transpired in the synagogue.  The victim’s choice/insistence.

(3)  At that meeting, Mr. [Redacted] expressed his feelings towards Br. Lawrence, Br. Lawrence expressed verbally his apologies and asked for forgiveness of Mr. [Redacted] and Br. Raymond apologized on the part of the Brothers of Christian Instruction.

Oh my. This sounds as close to happy times as things can get under such dark circumstances. Everybody asking forgiveness and apologizing, and the victim simply and, by the sound of it, ever so politely, expressing his feelings toward Brother Lawrence.

I call this huggy-bear-kissy face time. It almost has the making of a Rockwell painting, does it not? Happy times.

That’s not exactly how it played out, but, well –wishful thinking I suppose?

(4) The Brothers of Christian Instruction are not to ask nor allow Br. Lawrence to work at St.-Mary’s International School in Tokyo, Setagaya ward, and not to ask nor allow Br. Lawrence to work amid students of elementary, junior high school and high school.

Brother Lawrence, a known sexual predatory, had been working around children in Japan since his return to the country in or perhaps shortly before 1969. He was teaching at SMIS. He was teaching Catechism in English at Seiko Gakuin, Shizuoka. He was out at Camp Chimikepp surrounded by young boys. He was made superior of the Shizuoka Community. By 1982 he was Principal at SMIS Elementary School. By 1985 he was Assistant Headmaster and Principal at the SMIS elementary school.

According to Mr. Kagei’s 11 September 2014 letter to St. Mary’s Alumni it was not until January 2014 that Brother Lawrence was informed that he was not to be around students!

Unbelievable!!! Brother Paradis knew very well what his confrere did to that child. Not only did he know, he knew within days, if not hours. How many other brothers knew is uncertain, but my guess is that due to the fallout related to the finding of blood on the boy’s underwear the news was of necessity shared with at least some selected members of the Brothers of Christian Instruction. I won’t embark on that path.

No matter. The thing is that Brother John knew. That is an absolute fact. And, the other absolute fact is that for decades boys were wilfully placed at risk as Brother Lawrence, a cruel and ruthless sexual predator, was allowed to freely interact with children at schools operated by the brothers.

As an aside here, I understand too that some time after the victim came forward in May 2013 Brother Lawrence was quietly shuttled from SMIS to Shizuoka. Why the children at Shizuoka were deemed to be less at risk is beyond me, but, that’s what they did.

Perhaps Brother Ducharme, the Vice Provincial, thought he could keep a better eye on him there. Ducharme is Headmaster at the Seiko Gakuin high school in Shizuoka. He teaches – or did – some sort of religion class. I think this may be akin to the class that Brother Lawrence once taught at the same school? the Catechism class in English? (Unlike St. Mary’s International School, most if not all students at Seiko Gakuin are Japanese and most classes are conducted in their mother tongue. And yes, for those who wonder, the school in Shizuoka is Is also run by the brothers – in fact it is one of four schools founded and operated by the brothers in Japan.)

(5)  The Brothers of Christian Instruction agreed to pay 4,430,000 yen for the trip of Mr. [Redacted] his wife and his daughter to Japan and their stay in a hotel in Tokyo.

Agreed? Yes, I suppose in a sense that’s the right word, but it’s misleading. I’d say it’s more a case of the brothers bending over backwards to get together with the victim to keep him from talking.

The thing is that a meeting was to be had. Tokyo was agreed upon. The victim is accustomed to travelling business class, and is accustomed to staying at five star hotels. He wanted and needed support for the ordeal.

The brothers agreed that they would accommodate the needs of the victim in order to get him to Tokyo,

It was, as all of you who ever been in similar situation know only to well, an extremely distressing time for the victim and the trip and stay was far from a picnic.

6. This agreement is final. Mr. [Redacted] is not to do further civil responsibility pursuits or responsibility prosecution pursuits against Br. Lawrence or the Brothers of Christian Instruction concerning the sexual abuse stated above as well as divulgate information about the sexual abuse stated above in the media..

And there is an absolute slaughter of the Queen’s English.

What the heck are they trying to say?

Well, for one it sounds as though they wanted the victim to agree that he would not sue (“not to do further civil responsibility pursuits”), and despite the garbled English I’d say there is absolutely no doubt they wanted to gag him to keep him for disclosing his abuse to the media (“is not to ….as well as divulgate information about the sexual abuse stated above in the media”)

But what of this: “Mr. [Redacted] is not to do further … responsibility prosecution pursuits against Br. Lawrence or the Brothers of Christian Instruction”?

How do your read that garble? I think they were trying to keep him from laying criminal charges. I have read and re-read and keep coming to the same conclusion.

In Canada, preventing a victim from pursuing criminal charges is a crime. I don’t know if it’s a crime in Japan. I don’t know if it’s a crime in Australia. I know that it’s a crime in Canada.

I will close here with the words of the founder of the Mennasians:

“My dear children whom Jesus our Saviour loved so much that he embraced them. Come to us, stay with us, we will be the guardian angels of your innocence.” (S. VII p. 2271)

Fr. John Mary Robert de la Mennais

Father Mennais must be rolling in his grave.

I will add other links shortly.

Enough for now,

Sylvia