Brother John Gerard Gladwin

Religious order: Christian Brothers Queensland Province

Died: November 1998, aged 65

Background

John Gerard Gladwin was a member of the Christian Brothers in Queensland. During his religious life he was known as Brother Gerard Gladwin, although school records and photographs also identified him as Brother J.G. Gladwin.

According to accounts concerning his career, Gladwin joined the Christian Brothers and worked at a number of Catholic schools in Queensland from the 1950s through to the 1970s. He had left the religious order by the latter part of the 1970s.

Queensland school appointments

Gladwin's reported appointments included:

• 1956: St Brendan's College, Yeppoon

• 1957–1962: A Christian Brothers school in Gympie

• 1960s: St Mary's College, Toowoomba

• Late 1960s: St Joseph's, Gregory Terrace, Brisbane

• Early 1970s: St Joseph's, Nudgee, Brisbane

• Mid-1970s: St Columban's boys' school, Brisbane

This list may not represent all of the schools at which Gladwin worked.

A school magazine from one of the institutions where he taught reportedly contains a staff photograph identifying him as “Brother J.G. Gladwin.” Accounts of his religious name state that J represented John and that Gerard became his religious middle name after joining the Christian Brothers.

Allegations of sexual abuse

Former students have alleged that Gladwin sexually abused schoolboys during his years working as a Christian Brother in Queensland.

Because Gladwin died before criminal proceedings could take place, these allegations were never tested against him in a criminal trial. They should therefore be distinguished from offences for which a person has been convicted.

Nevertheless, allegations concerning Gladwin were serious enough for Queensland police to investigate him during the 1990s.

Police investigation in 1998

In 1998, Queensland police investigating historical child-sex offences were reportedly preparing to prosecute Gladwin over allegations concerning schoolboys from the 1960s and 1970s.

Media reports stated that detectives from Taskforce Argos, the Queensland Police unit established to investigate child sexual abuse and related offences, had interviewed Gladwin concerning alleged offences dating from the 1960s.

Before criminal proceedings could commence, however, Gladwin died.

Death

In November 1998, Gladwin, aged 65, was found dead inside his car on an isolated bush road on the outskirts of Brisbane Forest Park, north-west of Brisbane. Reports stated that he had died after being exposed to gas and that he had left a suicide note.

His death ended the possibility of criminal prosecution against him.

As a result, Gladwin was never convicted in a criminal court in relation to the allegations investigated by police.

Civil action after his death

Following his death, an Australian legal firm commenced civil proceedings on behalf of a former student who alleged that Gladwin had sexually abused him while he was a student at a Catholic school in Queensland during the 1970s.

The proceedings reportedly named several parties connected with the operation and administration of the school, including Christian Brothers trustees, former operators or managers of the school and a former headmaster who had been involved in the school's administration at the time of the alleged incidents.

Gladwin himself could not be named as a defendant because he had died in 1998.

The civil action also created the possibility that other former students who believed they had been abused by Gladwin might come forward.

Impact on a former student

One former student, referred to as “Drew” in accounts of the allegations, described the lasting impact he says his experiences with Gladwin had on his life.

Drew said that he encountered Gladwin at Nudgee College in Brisbane and that the experience severely affected his education and subsequent life.

He described growing up in a Catholic environment in which children could feel unable to speak to their parents about negative experiences involving priests or Christian Brothers. According to his account, this contributed to his inability to disclose what had happened to him at the time.

Drew said he subsequently left his education prematurely. He attributed his lack of formal education to serious difficulties later in life, including limited employment opportunities and periods of unemployment. He also described the effects on his personal relationships and said that he never married.

According to his account, he moved repeatedly around Australia and did not establish a permanent home.

Legacy

The allegations concerning Brother John Gerard Gladwin illustrate the difficulties faced by survivors seeking justice decades after alleged abuse occurred. In cases where an accused person dies before criminal proceedings, there can be no criminal trial or conviction. Civil proceedings may nevertheless provide a means for survivors to pursue accountability against organisations or other parties that may have legal responsibility.

Any allegations against Gladwin should be understood in that context: he was investigated by Queensland police and allegations were made against him, but he died before criminal charges could be brought to trial and was never convicted.