Trouble at the Embassy

The following is a text version of a statement signed on 10 November 2013 by Mrs. “Bernstein.”  Mrs. Bernstein is the mother of “Jacob Bernstien,” the young Jewish boy who was sexually abused by Brother Lawrence Lambert fic  at St. Mary’s International School in Tokyo.   The fully redacted statement can be accessed by clicking here.

Jacob Bernstein is a pseudonym for the boy.  “Gordon” is a pseudonym for Jacob’s father. “Tom” is a pseudonym for Jacob’s younger brother, four years his junior.

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1. In 1964 my husband [Gordon] was posted to Japan as [Redacted] at the Australian Embassy in Tokyo . [Jacob] and [Tom] and I joined him after he found a house for us mid 1964. The boys began school at St Mary’s International School Tokyo . They were driven to and from school by an Embassy car and car pool drivers.

2. In 1965 I cannot recall the date, but it was at least mid year. Our maid, Mutsuko-san brought me a pair of [Jacob’s] underpants that were covered in blood. I immediately took him to see Dr Fair who was a New Zealander and Tokyo based, he was the official Embassy doctor. [Jacob} would not say what was wrong, earlier that day he did not want to go to school and said he had a tummy bug which I interpreted as gastro. He was walking hunched over on the way to the car. Dr Fair examined him and gave him some cream to put on and some tablets which I later discovered were tranquilizers . He asked me to come back next day, a Thursday. He was not sure what was wrong.

3. . [Gordon] came home suddenly and told me Doctor Fair had telephoned the Ambassador to say [Jacob] had been sexually assaulted. We immediately thought of perhaps one of the drivers or the gardener. We spoke to [Jacob] who would not initially say what happened but indicated it was at school, and that if he told us if he said anything that Brother Lawrence would do it to [Tom]. We then knew who the culprit was.

4. [Gordon] then left home to drive to the Embassy. We had a new Jaguar car and I was concerned that he rang me such a short time later indicating the speed he would have driven at. Police would not have stopped him with Diplomatic license plates. He drove home a short time later and advised the Ambassador refused to have the Police called.

5. I took [Jacob] to see Doctor Fair and he said it was healing well. I then found out the tablets were tranquilsers.

6. The next day was Saturday and [Gordon] usually played tennis at the Embassy courts. He was dressed for •tennis but decided we would all go with him. I drove as I didn’t want him driving after Thursday. We dropped the boys of at the [[redacted] house opposite the Embassy compound. We did not live in the compound. Phil [Redacted] was the [redacted], a rank under the Ambassador .

7. The Ambassador ‘s wife met me and took me for coffee. We later walked through the connecting door of the residence to the Embassy Chancellery . We entered a small room and there was a glass one way mirror allowing us to see into the Ambassador’s office. [Gordon] and Phil were there, and a younger man who I knew was the Cypher Clark, a Mr [Redacted],and also Les [redacted] who was more senior to [Gordon]. They were all dressed in tennis whites except the Ambassador who was wearing a suit and tie.

8. Brother Lawrence was brought in and Brother John the headmaster . In 2013 when [Jacob] told me he had an email from Japan and had identified Brother Lawrence . [Jacob] said he opened the email on his mobile phone and immediately sent a reply back as to which one was Brother Lawrence. I asked to see it, he showed me the email he had had sent from Japan and I immediately picked out Brother John Paradise, the headmaster. [Jacob] has since told me it is Paradis the French spelling.
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9. There was a lot of yelling. Phil and Les grabbed Brother Lawrence’s arms from behind and held him, and Mr [Redacted] who was
younger started punching him in the stomach and chest . Brother John got up to perhaps intervene and was pushed to the ground causing his glasses to fall off. The Ambassador stepped on them, his wife and I then both left.

10. About an hour later I was at the [Redacted] house in the compound where I could see the Embassy doors without being observed . I recall seeing Brothers John and Lawrence being pushed hard out of the Chancellery door to the driveway down perhaps 5 steps. It was Saturday morning and the driveway was protected with a high fence out of street view . They hobbled away. It was like something I expected from the Soviet Embassy.

11. [Gordon] then told me Brother John agreed Brother Lawrence would be sent to Canada and never permitted near children. [Gordon] was reposted out of Tokyo and advised to not mention it again if he wanted a career.