While most of the suspected paedophiles are dead, Fairfax Media is aware of three who have left the Catholic order and moved away but are in roles where they could have access to children. The allegations relate to the order’s operations at Cheltenham and Lilydale, where it provided homes for wards of the state, orphans, boys given up by their parents and those with intellectual disabilities from the 1950s to the 1980s. The order paid out more than $3.6 million in 2002 to 24 men who had alleged they were abused as children by brothers from the order. Victorian police at the time confirmed they had launched an investigation into the allegations and taken statements from a number of alleged victims, and that the Director of Public Prosecutions was to decide on any charges to be laid. Do you know more? Email Rory Callinan at the "Email Rory" link at the top of this article.

But Dr Chamley and victims have confirmed to Fairfax that none of the 15 suspected paedophile brothers has ever been charged in Victoria. Dr Chamley will give details of alleged horrific abuse at the order’s homes, including claims that boys were subjected to pack rapes and beatings and being drugged. He will allege that two boys were sent to a mental institution by the "alpha paedophile" brother and given electroshock therapy, which impaired one so badly he was unable to care for himself and later died. Dr Chamley will also mention research indicating that seven of a group of 69 boys who went to the order’s homes had committed suicide. His most serious allegation will be that two boys might have been killed – and their deaths not reported – at the order’s farm at Lilydale.

Speaking on Thursday, Dr Chamley said there were witnesses to the alleged suspicious deaths, which occurred in the early 1960s. He said three men who spent time at the Lilydale home had independently told him of an incident in which a boy was thrown down stairs. "That boy was taken off to the infirmary [unconscious] and never seen again," said Dr Chamley. He said the three witnesses were still alive and could be contacted by police. He said the second alleged death was reported by a former resident of one of the homes who said he had found a boy dead in the bed next to him. ‘‘He spoke about waking up and finding this fellow beside him dead. This fellow had recently arrived in the place,’’ said Dr Chamley. He said the witness to this incident was still alive and had been severely traumatised by his stay in the home.

Dr Chamley said the main victims of the brothers at Cheltenham were boys who never received any visitors and were quartered in upstairs dormitories away from the boys who did receive visits. ''They speak of being given a red medicine that made them drowsy. Pack rapes took place and boys who resisted or attempted to fight off their attackers were beaten mercilessly. These were boys of seven to 15 years up against adult males,'' he said. Dr Chamley said the alleged paedophiles would become hyperactive after taking the boys to football matches. ''At the football matches the boys were provided with beer and encouraged to drink with the accompanying brothers,'' he said. ''After these occasions the paedophiles would become hyperactive and overt. The evening meal was followed by buggery and pack rapes and the remainder of Saturday night spent by many boys crying and in fear. And then Mass on Sunday morning.''

Dr Chamley will give his submission - which has been posted online - to the inquiry into the handling of child abuse by religious and other organisations on Friday. He is a retired endocrinologist who works as a volunteer for Broken Rites, for which he conducted research on the St John of God order and assisted in negotiating settlements for abuse victims. The order's spokesman said the Australian provincial, Brother Timothy Graham, was in Portugal and was unable to be contacted for comment. He said the order would appear at the parliamentary inquiry if requested. The spokesman said the order had first become aware in 1997 that there had been sexual abuse at its facilities in Victoria. ''The order was proactive and immediately opened internal and police inquiries. This culminated in a multimillion-dollar mediated settlement which was ratified by the Supreme Court of Victoria in June 2002, at which time Victoria Police also referred the matters to the DPP,'' he said. Several St John of God brothers have served prison time in New Zealand for assaults on boys in homes there.