He was nine years old when he was allegedly raped by a Catholic brother.
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Locked in a linen room cupboard for 48 hours, the young boy was repeatedly sexually abused and belted black and blue, he now claims.
He says it wasn’t the first taste of torture he’d endured at the hands of his minders, nor was it the last.
Now 83-years-old, Darcy Toner is going public about the alleged abuse he endured because as a 12-year-old boy he was too frightened.
I was raped and it breaks me down when I think how I was treated.
“They told me if I spoke to anyone that would be the end of me,” Mr Toner told the Mercury.
“But now I will let people know what actually went on, the truth. They told me if I spoke to anyone it would be the end.”
Mr Toner was left at Boys Town in 1942 after his professional boxer father was unable to pursue his career and care for him at the same time.
He was seven-years-old and claims he was almost instantly subject to physical and sexual abuse by one particular brother who would abuse him out of sight and often lock him in a linen closet for days on end.
The brother was eventually moved away from the home but the scars of Mr Toner’s experience have stayed with him for more than 60 years.
The father of 11 said he felt unable to talk about his experience at the home until his most recent partner, a passionate Catholic woman, died late last year.
“I have a photographic memory, which has made the memories worse,” Mr Toner said.
“I can’t put it behind me.
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“How this was allowed to happen to me was disgraceful and I’ve had to wear these scars for my entire life.
“But I’m very lucky to have a very supportive family, my children have been great.”
Mr Toner is taking legal action against Boys Town so that others like him, might find the courage.
“Boys Town was pitiful. I was raped and it breaks me down when I think how I was treated. It won’t leave me.
”I tried to kill myself. Nothing will solve the problem … It’s in my mind all the time.”
Mr Toner’s Wollongong-based lawyer Melinda Griffiths is investigating claims on behalf of several clients who allege they have been sexually abused at the Engadine centre between the 1950’s and 1980’s.
Ms Griffiths, of Slater and Gordon, said the horrific abuse suffered by Mr Toner had permanently scarred him, altering the course of his life forever.
