At the heart of a school where Fremantle's Catholics sent their boys to be educated, a chaplain created his own lockable confessional to allegedly sexually abuse primary school students.
Former Christian Brothers College (CBC) Fremantle schoolboy Travis Adams also claims Carmelite Father Damian Barker tried to abuse him during every confession in this room.
Mr Adams remembers lining up to admit his sins in the small room as an 11-year-old, as classes went on in the surrounding rooms.
Inside, the school chaplain, whose breath stank of whisky and cigarettes, would allegedly order the blond-haired boy to come closer so he could touch and kiss him.
"His face goes red and then it's like a different man's in the room," he recalled.
"He locked the door, and now it's 'Do as you're told!'"
The schoolboy soon devised ways to try to protect himself.
"I used to wear as many pairs of jocks as I could put under my pants every day," he said.
School camp the last straw
It was not until after Fr Damian allegedly assaulted him at a school camp that he told his Catholic mother, Pearl, who believed him and continued to support him without question.
"School camp was a game changer," he said.
"I couldn't take it anymore. I had to tell."
He moved to the local state school but his experiences at the Christian Brothers' primary school continue to haunt him.
Now at the age of 49 – after years of struggling with drug and alcohol abuse, post-traumatic stress disorder and relationship issues — Mr Adams is suing the Carmelite Fathers (Victoria) and the Christian Brothers, who ran the school.
He claims they failed to protect him and other students from Fr Damian in 1984 and 1985.
Maurice Blackburn's Perth principal lawyer Gemma Taylor said she knew of five other survivors and believed there could be many more, not just from CBC Fremantle.
"We do have it on authority that there could be as many as 60 people who have been affected by this perpetrator," she said.
Fr Barker arrived at the school in 1983 from Melbourne, soon establishing himself as a popular member of staff who helped out with school camps.
"…we are extremely fortunate in having Father Damian Barker join us as Chaplain, a position to which he gave himself heart and soul, being frequently on hand to assist in the pastoral caring of our students," the 1983 school yearbook said.
Mr Adams remembers that students would fight for his attention and were in awe of his religious status as "the messenger of Christ".
He now believes that he was being groomed.
"He showed that much love and that much open arms," he said.
Odd behaviour of 'loving' chaplain
With hindsight, he said there were red flags about the new chaplain, particularly the way he openly kissed boys on the mouth in the playground.
Fr Damian also changed the practice of students traipsing down the hill from the now-demolished primary school campus on Tuckfield St to St Patrick's Basilica for confession.
Mr Adams said the chaplain complained it was taking up too much time and instead created his makeshift confessional with a lockable door inside the primary school.
It appears others noticed unusual behaviour by Fr Damian, as Ms Taylor discovered while handling Mr Adams's case.
"We have documentation that has indicated that his interactions with children prior to Travis's claim were highlighted," she said.
Church records show Fr Damian, who died in 1998, moved to Wentworthville and Bateau Bay in New South Wales after he left Fremantle.
But his impact has never left Mr Adams, whose pain and anger is still raw.
While he appears to have a successful life – a career as a marine engineer, a long marriage with two children – he is always grappling with his demons.
"Never enough love or gratification. Never enough. It's still never enough," he said.
But he has taught himself coping strategies, like keeping his often-frantic mind busy with work, music and art.
He often returns to the familiar sands of Leighton beach near Fremantle where he surfed as a teenager.
"This is where I come to forget … I know I can forget here," he said.
A day for reckoning awaits
By taking legal action, Mr Adams hopes to put this chapter of his history behind him.
It has been a long process, one that started three years ago, and his day in court is unlikely for at least two years, according to Ms Taylor.
But he hopes by sharing his story, he can give others the courage to speak out.
"I think it's an incredibly honourable thing to not just seek one's own empowerment but to also empower others to come forward," Ms Taylor said.
CBC Fremantle is now governed by Edmund Rice Education Australia, an organisation that oversees Christian Brothers' schools.
When contacted, the Christian Brothers said they were unable to comment on Mr Adams's claim.
"This is a litigated civil claim and as a result the Christian Brothers are required to provide a defence to the claim and the allegations contained in that claim in accordance with court rules," they said in a statement.
"The Christian Brothers do not comment publicly on the details of any allegation which is the subject of ongoing legal processes."
They encouraged anyone who had experienced abuse at one of their facilities to contact their Office of Professional Standards, the National Redress Scheme or seek independent legal representation.
The Carmelite Fathers said it would be inappropriate to comment while the matter was being heard by the District Court of WA.
