ION TIRIAC'S ORPHANAGE RUINS ROMANIA'S IMAGE!

From Atac-Online
September 13, 2006
by Adrian Militaru

ION TIRIAC'S ORPHANAGE RUINS ROMANIA'S IMAGE!

The abuses at Poiana Soarelui [Sunny Glade], the "Educational Complex" shepherded by Ion Tiriac via his sister Rodica, have gotten to the ears of the European Parliament and are ruining Romania's image just a few months before its entry into the EU. Six institutionalized children have notified the European Parliament concerning the abuses to which they were subjected by the personnel who were supposed to be caring for them. To top it all off, the whole scandal will make it to the European press because last week two British journalists from the celebrated newspaper, The Sunday Times, came especially to make a report about the abuses at Poiana Soarelui [Sunny Glade].

RAPED BY A SUPERVISOR

Two of the girls who are at the complex declared to journalists that they were raped by one of the caregivers from the orphanage while attending a camp in Bacau. This camp was organized by Poiana Soarelui in order to demonstrate the great conditions which exist for children institutionalized at the complex. This case was swept under the rug and the perpetrator was let go from the institution. Traumatized and forced to not say a word, the victims suffered in silence.

THE OFFICIAL VERSION

The current leadership of Poiana Soarelui has a different version, however. The leadership said the two girls had disappeared during that week and that the institution needed to contact the police to look for them. After they were found, they were taken to the institution and put in isolation. Thus affirms the leadership of the institution. However, this is not the only case of sexual abuse which the children at Poiana Soarelui was subjected. A few years ago, the baker at Poiana Soarelui was sentenced by the Brasov court to 7 years in prison after it was proven that he raped a young boy. The young boy was taken by the perpetrator to a garage where he proposed that they play a game called ride the horse. The victim was forced to his knees while the pervert rubbed the genital organs of the boy. In the end, the silence of the victim was bought with candy. Just like in the case of the two girls, this case also was swept under the rug. The institution's lawyer, Nicolaie Mandrila, affirms "I don't know about such cases in which children were mistreated."

THE MYSTERY BEHIND THE FENCE

The children have come to the end of their rope with regard to the harsh treatment to which they are subjected by Tiriac's employees. The institutionalized children are bringing grave accusations against the psychologist, maternal assistants, care givers as well as the leadership of the institution. The children primarily blame the center's psychologists and maternal assistants for inadequate and severe behavior. The children said that "the psychologists don't take care of us and the leadership has abandoned us. In general, the language used by the psychologists is very harsh and they no longer care about our problems." It appears that the situation has not changed. The children maintain that when they make a mistake, they are put in isolation, usually for 3 days. One of the children said, "They bring us food, but isolation is terrible."

IMPRESSIVE MEASURES

Larisa Z. ran away from Tiriac's center last year because of the way she was treated. Because of the scandal this created, she was moved to Bucharest where she is studying piano at the Dinu Lipatti. The girl returned to Brasov to pick up her identity documents, however, the doorman at the gate refused to let her in without the approval of the director. According to request no.31021 from August 9, 2005, the CPS Brasov demanded that the leadership of Poiana Soarelui give the girl her identity papers. The leadership maintains that they sent the documents to CPS Brasov as requested. The problem is that only her identity card arrived, together with her birth certificate and medical records. Her passport was not sent and thus she lost the opportunity to visit the United States, for which she had a visa.

EMMA NICHOLSON IS ALSO ACCUSED BY THE CHILDREN

The adolescents are determined to expose the fact that the institution tried to hide the truth. The children did not hide the fact that they are very mad at Baroness Emma Nicholson who was responsible for stopping international adoptions. One of the children said, "Tiriac brought her here two times with his helicopter and buttered her up, thus making us suffer." The children also declared their anger at the fact that the representatives of the orphanage did not even tell them that their names were on a list to be adopted abroad. Many of them found out later that families from the U.S. and Italy had tried everything possible in order to adopt them. CPS Brasov wants to open an investigation. If the things stated by the children are confirmed, it is possible that the authorization of this institution will be withdrawn. Though we don't need these kinds of scandals just a few months prior to Romania's entry into the EU, unfortunately the repeated alarms signaled by ATAC Newspaper have not been heard by the authorities and they have closed their eyes to the facts.