Up to four complaints have been made by staff, both individually and jointly.

It is understood these relate to the handling of issues raised by staff concerning the ongoing welfare of its disabled clients.

This comes as the centre has confirmed Mercy Centre Lavington chief executive Sister Patricia Weekes has been “temporarily recalled” by the Institute of Sisters of Mercy of Australia and Papua New Guinea.

“During her absence, Mercy Centre Lavington is in the capable leadership of acting chief executive officer Jean Murray and the experienced staff team,” a spokesman said.

The Border Mail is not suggesting any link between the complaints to the NSW Ombudsman and Sister Weekes moving out of her role.

Three years ago, a woman made an allegation that her intellectually disabled daughter was sexually assaulted by another client while in the care of the Mercy Centre at its training centre in Lavington, Catherine’s Corner.

The Mercy Centre disputed there had been an assault, which the mother claimed resulted in her daughter contracting the sexually transmitted disease chlamydia.

The alleged attack was not reported to authorities until the woman began suffering symptoms.

A source told The Border Mail there had been ongoing concern among staff about complaints regarding inappropriate contact between disabled clients.

“There’s been one under-age client found in bed with another under-age client three times,” the source alleged.

The source said the NSW Ombudsman was treating the staff complaints seriously.

“The ombudsman has contacted those workers and rang other people for witness accounts — there were probably 15 or so people contacted regarding the situation.”

A spokesman said the NSW Ombudsman operated “under strict secrecy provisions” within the Ombudsman Act 1974, “which preclude us from providing a great deal of information relating to many aspects of our work”.

“I can confirm that our office has received and is dealing (with) complaints pertaining to Mercy Centre,” the spokesman said.

Mercy Centre was opened in late 2011 after the Sisters of Mercy spent $2 million converting the two-storey Thurgoona building.

At the time it had about 30 staff whose clients included about 180 people with disabilities.

A spokesman said any allegations of possible inappropriate sexual contact between clients were “very serious”.

“We would encourage anyone with information pertaining to these allegations to contact the appropriate authorities,” he said.

“In the interests of privacy to our clients and staff, Mercy Centre Lavington has a policy of not responding to allegations or potential allegations through the media.”