The Order of Malta Ireland failed to act on allegations that a volunteer had sexually assaulted two young men before he went on to molest two underage teenagers.
Scott Browne (34), from Co Kildare, was jailed for nine and a half years in 2020 for the sexual abuse of two 15-year-old boys in separate incidents in 2018.
On both occasions the victims were abused after being rendered unconscious by strong pain-relief medication Browne had stolen from the Order of Malta.
The organisation continues to grapple with the fallout of the scandal, which saw its entire board dismissed in late 2022 as tensions worsened between the Irish branch and the order’s headquarters in Rome.
An independent review completed in mid-2024 made a series of recommendations for how the volunteer ambulance corps should overhaul its approach to child protection.
The review stated that the Order of Malta needed to recognise the “negative effects” of continuing to have a “culture of deference, where members are reluctant to voice their opinions or question decision making”.
The organisation should carry out an audit to make sure all that adult volunteers supervising youth members – known as cadets – were properly vetted, it added. Internal guidelines for taking children on overnight or overseas trips needed to be strengthened, particularly policies around alcohol and drugs.
The review was undertaken byformer Tusla official Mary Hargaden and shared with the child and family agency. It recommended that the order should “monitor and update adult vetting lists to ensure that all volunteers, including those who have minimal contact with children such as drivers, are vetted”.
The ambulance corps should “audit all records of activities with cadets to verify appropriate supervision ratios,” it stated.
How the organisation managed cases where allegations were made against volunteers, staff or youth members needed to be revised, while a wider awareness about the possible grooming of young people by abusers was also needed. Training was needed for volunteers in how to spot and respond to instances where children displayed harmful sexual behaviour, the review stated.
The report recommended that the organisation hire a national safeguarding officer to oversee child protection policies. A safeguarding team should take over “all child safeguarding responsibilities”, such as the handling of allegations and the task of reporting information to statutory authorities.
Ms Hargaden said “significant progress” had been made by the organisation in the vetting of volunteers and child protection training.
A redacted copy of the independent review was released to The Irish Times, following a request to Tusla under the Freedom of Information Act. The Order of Malta did not respond to requests for comment on the review.
A previous report by safeguarding consultant Patrick Brosnan found there was a “significant shortcoming” in how the ambulance corps responded to allegations that Browne sexually assaulted a male volunteer back in 2015.
Browne was only removed from the organisation several years later, after gardaí began investigating his sexual abuse of two teenagers in 2018.
In response to the abuse controversy a senior figure in the international order, FJ McCarthy, was appointed by its headquarters in Rome to oversee the running of the Irish arm of the Order of Malta.
The Order of Malta Ireland is a Catholic charitable organisation that provides ambulances, first-aid training and other community services on a voluntary basis.