New Belgium nun child sex abuse case

[Crossbow]

New Belgium nun child sex abuse case

Brussels - Belgian prosecutors on Tuesday said they had opened a judicial inquiry after a fresh claim of sexual abuse in an institution for children run by nuns.

The latest probe follows a claim by a 63-year Belgian man to have been the target of sexual abuse in the 1950s in the Sint-Vincentius de Halen orphanage in the northeast region of Limbourg.

A separate inquiry was opened earlier this month after claims of abuse several decades ago in a school run by nuns at the other end of the country, in northwestern Courtrai.

Tuesday's inquiry follows a complaint lodged on Monday, Belga news agency said.

The man told a radio station he lived in the orphanage from age five to 12 and had been abused when 10. The orphanage since has been turned into a centre for young people in trouble.

"I slept in a room with 40 other boys. There were two small bedrooms for two sisters who used us," he was quoted as saying by Belga. He added that the boys were fondled by the nuns when they went to shower.

He said he had told his mother who had complained to no avail to the police in the 1950s.

On January 3, the Courtrai prosecutor's office said it had opened an inquiry after allegations of abuse from 1965 to 1970 in the Stella Maris home.

The inquiry was in its early stages with investigators attempting "to identify the persons who may have committed the acts", a spokesperson told AFP.

That home too is no longer run by a religious order.

The Roman Catholic Church in Belgium has been embroiled for months in child-abuse scandals, with a Church-backed commission revealing in September nearly 500 cases of abuse by priests and lay workers since the 1950s, including 13 victims who committed suicide.

[Magister Eckhart]

"What are Belgians known for?"
"I don't know"
"Chocolates and child abuse, and they only invented the candy to get to the kids."

[Crossbow]

"What are Belgians known for?"
"I don't know"
"Chocolates and child abuse, and they only invented the candy to get to the kids."

Yes, Belgium has had its portion of scandals. In contrast to the usual picture, the abusers were nuns.

[Peerkons]

Its a well known fact that most of these child rape cases are related with catholic church.
Avoid that filth in any way possible.

[The Lawspeaker]

It makes me wonder what causes the many sex abuse scandals in "Belgium" as of late (the last 20 years).

I hate to say it but... our Southern Netherlands used to be Catholic - could this have something to do with the culture of sexual repression that may have rooted there for so long ?

I know one thing.. and I notice it in the difference between Northern Dutch sexual morality and Southern Dutch ("Belgian") sexual morality the North is generally liberal and straight-forward about it while the Southerners are usually more closed about it but also more.. well I get the impression that men in Flanders and Wallonia are more hillbilly-like in their approach.

I could be wrong but that's the impression they have given me. The girls act more sophisticated then our girls do but their sexual morality seems to be even lower then our own. But I could be wrong.

Fellow Dutch, from North and South: step forward, please.

And The Wagnerian: be a bit more diplomatic. You are a foreigner and I (and a lot more other Dutch) consider the Southerners to be our kinsfolk. The "Belgians" have produced a lot more in their history. Art, science, technology (it was a centre of technology and the second country in the world to industrialise (right after Britain)), (haute) cuisine, literature, architecture etc.

You should see Brussels, Antwerp, Ghent, Bruges etc.

[Magister Eckhart]

And The Wagnerian: be a bit more diplomatic. You are a foreigner and I (and a lot more other Dutch) consider the Southerners to be kin. The "Belgians" have produced a lot more in their history. Art, science, technology (it was a centre of technology and the second country in the world to industrialize (right after Britain), literature, architecture etc.

I'm aware of Flemish contributions to European culture and history.

It was a joke. Considering how rarely I tell them I won't be apologising.

[The Lawspeaker]

Very well. It was a very sick joke.

[Magister Eckhart]

Very well. It was a very sick joke.

That's a fair cop.

[Guapo]

"What are Belgians known for?"

* Waffles
* Chocolate
* Beer
* "French" Fries
* Capital of the European Union
* The Saxophone
* Brussels Sprouts
* Mussels
* Its very boring national football team
* Two languages: Flemish and French, never the twain shall meet
* Female tennis superstars: Justine Henin-Hardenne and Kim Clijsters, who have to speak to each other in English because they don't speak each other's native language.
* Comic books (like the Smurfs and Tintin)
* Disastrous colonial policy in Africa (producing the Congo and Rwanda)

[The Lawspeaker]

* Poetry ( Maeterlinck, van Maerlant, Piryns, and God know how many more)
* Music (Laïs, Zegers, Brel -- the invention of the Saxophone)
* Architecture (Horta, and the tons of medieval or baroque architecture or the Antwerp Station or Antwerp Zoo.)
* Painters (Rubens, van Dyck, Bruegel the Elder, Bruegel the Younger, van Eyck)
* Politicians and statesmen (De Man, Max, Albert I, Leopold III)
* Beer.. Belgium has more beers then France has cheeses and that says something. I still don't touch beer that hasn't been brewed in the South.
* And the same goes for chocolate
* Belgian cuisine (fi. Gentse Waterzooi, chicons au gratin, waffles, Brussels sprouts, mussels and fries, Paling in't Groen, Fries (the frogs didn't invent shit !) and Flemish mayonaise. How I love the frituur !). If I want to eat well and I happen to be in the South and I can afford it ? Off to Brussels it is !
* Railways. Compared to the Netherlands they run perfectly on time.
* The refinement of two languages. Both French and Dutch have met each other a long time ago although both linguistic groups would even fight about who has the right to deny it the fiercest. But the "Belgian" pronunciation of both French or Dutch is more refined then is used in France or the Northern Netherlands.
*The South's brave stance in 1914 against the Germans. 110.00 poorly equipped men against the full might of the German Empire. And they held out on their fingernails. Now that earns them some respect. In 1940 they yet again fought an amazing campaign right to the bitter end.
*Comic books (the Smurfs, Tin Tin, Spike and Suzy and a lot more).
*As of yet Brussels is the centre of Europe. And effectively it's capital.
* Han-sur-Lesse, the Ardennes, Spa. Yes.. the word spa is derived from the town of Spa.
*Education: Louvain (Leuven) University, Ghent University. The Southern education system shamelessly always outclasses the North. Big time. The chances of a Northern Dutchman to win the Groot Dictee der Nederlandse Taal are slim.

I dare to say we lost our (culturally) most vibrant and richest part at the ill-fated splits of the Eighty Years War and the Disaster Year of 1830...