A specialist counselling service that supports victims of childhood sexual abuse has been inundated with calls since the conviction of Cardinal George Pell, with many survivors saying they have been traumatised by high-profile support for the disgraced prelate.

The president of the Blue Knot Foundation, Cathy Kezelman, said demand for the childhood trauma service spiked when a suppression order lifted on 26 February, revealing Pell was guilty of five charges, including sexually penetrating a 13-year-old choirboy.

“It’s been so challenging, as we’ve had double the normal amount of calls since then,” Kezelman said. “Some people are acutely distressed. The story is playing out in public in such a way that it’s impossible, almost, to avoid it.”

A significant amount of the reporting defended the cardinal and attempted to discredit the victim’s abuse.

“People have their own personal relationship with Cardinal Pell, but I don’t know how people can connect their friendship with someone as to whether they are innocent or not,” Kezelman said.

Australia’s child sexual abuse royal commission found many child abusers were intelligent, liked and respected. It also found survivors took, on average, 23.9 years to tell someone about their abuse, and men often took longer to disclose than women. Some victims never disclose. Pell’s complainant disclosed as an adult, about 18 years after the attacks.

Kezelman said despite the commission’s work, “a lot of myths” had been spread about abusers and victims by the media in discrediting Pell’s conviction. She urged those struggling to “seek professional help”.

“People are feeling very triggered and are in need of being held and feeling safe,” Kezelman said. “They should know [that] any reaction is valid and all these things are normal in the context of very public trauma stories playing out, especially when what is playing out is the victim’s struggle, despite a trial, to be believed.”

Assoc Prof Tim Moore is the deputy director of the Australian Centre for Child Protection at the University of South Australia. He said he was concerned about the messages some of media reporting of Pell’s trial were sending to young people who were being abused now.

“We need the public to realise kids are still at risk and being abused, and we need to give kids enough information to come to an adult,” Moore said.

“My fear with some of the public discourse is that kids experiencing abuse are being told it’s not OK to share their experience, that they won’t be believed. We need to empower them, and ensure they are safe. But instead the message from some seems to be: ‘even if you come forward and go through a gruelling experience like attending court, the public is still not always going to give you the support you deserve’.”

Judy Courtin’s law firm represents victims of child sexual abuse. She said she had been inundated by phone calls and emails from her clients, whom she described as “incredibly distressed”. She said this trauma was a “direct result” of the commentary in support of Pell.

“Some of the commentators aren’t being very intelligent and all they’re showing is how little they know and understand about how child sex crimes are committed and the impact,” Courtin said. “I think they’re displaying an absolute arrogance. And they have opened up wounds, big time.”

One of her clients had since attempted suicide, she said.

“Where was the church for this man last week?” she said. “Where is the church for this man now? Instead of helping this man, they treat him as the enemy and fight him to the death – almost literally.

“Such high-profile figures supporting Pell, saying he’s still innocent, is terribly harmful. It’s saying to people like this young man, ‘what you say is not worth a thing’.”

Chrissie Foster, whose daughters Emma and Katie suffered sexual abuse at the hands of a priest over several years, was angered by the level of criticism of Pell’s trial from people who were not there or who could not have read transcripts.

In 1998 one of her daughters received a letter signed by Pell apologising for the abuse she had suffered. But a separate letter from the church’s compensation scheme, established by Pell, said the $50,000 in compensation offered to her should provide “an alternative to litigation that will otherwise be strenuously defended”.

Foster remains a tireless advocate for victims, and was present during Pell’s trial in November and December. She had a message for survivors struggling amid the support for Pell.

“Don’t let the Catholic church or the priesthood take any more of your life than they already have,” she said.

National support services

Blue Knot Foundation – Call 1300 657 380 or visit www.blueknot.org.au

helpline@blueknot.org.au

Helpline hours: Monday-Sunday, 9am-5pm AEST/AEDT

Bravehearts Inc - 1800 272 831

Counselling and support for survivors, child protection advocacy

1800 Respect - Call 1800 737 732 or visit www.1800respect.org.au. 24-hour telephone and online crisis support, information and immediate referral to specialist counselling for anyone in Australia who has experienced or been affected by sexual assault, or domestic or family violence.

Lifeline - Call 13 11 14 or visit www.lifeline.org.au. 24-hour crisis support and suicide prevention.

Kids Helpline – Call 1800 55 1800 or visit kidshelpline.com.au. Free, private and confidential 24/7 phone and online counselling service for young people.

Care Leavers Australasia Network - Call 1800 008 774

Support and advocacy for people brought up in care homes.

Child Migrants Trust - Call 1800 040 509

Social work services for former child migrants, including counselling and support for family reunions

Child Wise - Call 1800 991 099

Trauma informed telephone and online counselling for childhood abuse. Training and organisational capacity-building on child abuse prevention.

For a list of support services by state, visit the information page of the royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse.