Ex-Boy Scout Leader Sex Abuser

Ex-Boy Scout Leader Mario Henry Aliverti the latest in Convicted Child Sexual Abusers

We have read today in the Sydney Morning Herald article by court reporter Georgina Mitchell that Scout Leader sex abuser, Mario Henry Aliverti has been convicted of sexually abusing young boys in his care, and will finally pay the price. He has been jailed, and will stay there for the next 20 years at a minimum.

As is so often the case, at the time these assaults were committed, little was done despite the fact that there were those who came forward to report the abuse. While Aliveti was banned from being a scout leader in 1990, the advice from a Scout commissioner was to, “think twice”, before making official complaints, as they may find themselves charged by authorities for neglect. History shows that the perpetrator (scout leader sex abuse) then went on to assault other boys between 1993 and 2007.

This story is so sadly repeated over and over; different assailants, different children, different institutions, but the same story line. It is the crime that has no witnesses, little credibility for the young victims, and a steely determination of institutions to hide the crime at all costs.

So yet another evil doer has been caught, charged and made to face the punishment they deserve, but has anything really changed for the victims?

The answer is absolutely. Victims of Institutional Child Sexual Abuse were the subject of a Royal Commission, and from this flowed a river of horror stories, but also a new march of victims that are believed, vindicated and can be compensated for a lifetime impact, as a direct result of what they have suffered. Their recollections of what happened form stories and patterns that can be aligned with those of other victims, the history of the perpetrators can be charted, and substantiating analysis by experts in psychiatry and psychology can be tabled. It is a sorry truth that child sexual abusers rarely stop at one, and their trail becomes clear once uncovered.

The first step is to make the call to get help, legal advice and support. It is then that victims find out that they are far from alone, but part of an uprising of those whose time has come. It is far from easy, but so often the yolk lifted off their shoulders opens a door to a better life going forward.