A former manager of Tasmania’s troubled Ashley Youth Detention Centre will give evidence at a child sexual abuse inquiry after earlier failing to appear because of medical issues.
Ex-cop Patrick Ryan, who was in charge of the centre for about four years from 2017, is due to appear before the inquiry on Wednesday.
He was listed to give evidence in late August but pulled out.
The inquiry has been told the centre has a “culture of brutality” against children and could itself be considered a “monster” that has withstood attempts at reform across its two-decade-plus history.
During hearings in August, former detainees told of being raped, bashed and belittled by staff at the centre. The inquiry was told abuse allegations were as current as recent years.
The state government has stood by a pledge made last September to shut the centre by the end of 2024, despite calls for it to close immediately.
Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff on Tuesday apologised to former detainees who had not been provided with therapeutic care at the centre.
The head of youth justice reform at the department of communities, Chris Simcock, is also expected to give evidence on Wednesday.
The commission of inquiry, which is examining responses to child sexual abuse allegations across Tasmania’s public service, will hand down a final report by May.
The inquiry is beginning its final five days of hearings, which will also examine responses to allegations and missed red flags raised against nurse James Geoffrey Griffin.
Griffin worked in the pediatric ward of the Launceston General Hospital for almost 20 years before taking his life in 2019 after being charged with child sexual abuse allegations.
