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Denying child abuse victims compensation if they become criminals unfair, perpetrator says

PHOTO: The question of compensation for sex abuse perpetrators who were themselves abused is a fraught one. (ABC News)
PHOTO: The question of compensation for sex abuse perpetrators who were themselves abused is a fraught one. (ABC News)

Ian lives in Adelaide with his wife of 14 years and his disabled son. Twenty years ago, he went to jail for rape. It wasn’t his only offence, though it was his most serious.

He describes himself at that time in his life as a “nasty drunk” who would take out his anger on people who “didn’t deserve it”.

“All I knew, was what I knew inside [institutions]. And inside — if you wanted something you took it, because if you didn’t, they would,” he said.

From the age of six months, Ian lived in what we now know are some of Victoria’s worst institutions, where he was mentally, physically and sexually abused.

He estimates he lived in at least seven different children’s homes, including the now notoriously brutal Turana Youth Training Centre and Baltara Reception Centre in Parkville.

At 18, he exited the system with a “dole cheque and a suitcase full of clothes”, and spent the next 14 years in and out of jail.

“When you finally work out that your mum dumped you at a kids’ home because she thinks you’re responsible for her husband being dead, you don’t really take kindly to women for a while,” he said.

“It’s not their fault, it’s mine. Clearly mine, don’t get me wrong.

“But sometimes when you are angry, you take it out on the person close to you, not the person that deserves it.”

Those denied compensation being ‘punished twice’

PHOTO: Reports of abuse at the Turana Youth Training Centre were rarely taken any further.
PHOTO: Reports of abuse at the Turana Youth Training Centre were rarely taken any further.

Ian pleaded guilty to raping a woman in Adelaide in 1997, and spent four-and-a-half years in jail.

When he got out, he decided what he was doing hadn’t been working “too crash hot” and he needed to turn his life around.

While on parole, he met someone on a dating app. They married two years later, and now have a son, who has a disability.

“I knew he had been in jail, what he’d been in jail for,” Ian’s wife said.

“You know, that’s the past. He didn’t hurt me.”

Three years ago, Ian gave evidence in a private hearing of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sex Abuse.

“Someone listened for a change, which was nice,” he said.

“But I’m still in the same boat I was when I was 10. You can tell anybody what you like, but nobody has ever done anything about it.”

He thought the commission would eventually lead to compensation, and was furious when he found out he is not eligible under the Federal Government’s national redress scheme.

It excludes anyone convicted of sex offences, or sentenced to prison for five years or more for drugs, homicide or fraud.

“When I heard the Minister come out … and say ‘well if you’re convicted of murder or rape you will not qualify for compensation’ — I mean, who the hell is he?

“Why should they now divide? ‘Oh well, your child abuse is OK because you didn’t commit offences. But you did, so you don’t count’.”

People who have been jailed and served their time are being punished twice, according to the Care Leavers Australasia Network (CLAN).

“They have paid for their crimes, why should they have to pay a second time?” said CLAN’s executive officer Leonie Sheedy, who is advocating for compensation for all victims.

“If you are only going to recognise certain categories of victims then you are allowing the churches, and charities, and state governments to get away with crimes that were committed against children.”

‘I can’t undo what is done’

PHOTO: The royal commission will hand down its final report on December 15. (AAP: Les O'Rourke)
PHOTO: The royal commission will hand down its final report on December 15. (AAP: Les O’Rourke)

Australia’s peak legal body is also concerned by what it calls the “creeping tendency” to further punish people in Australia.

The decision to exclude criminals from compensation is unprecedented in Australian legal history, said president of the Law Council of Australia, Fiona McLeod.

“We have not yet, that I have heard of, deprived them of the right to civil compensation because of the crime they have committed,” she said.

It is unclear how many people will be affected by the decision, but Ms McLeod said it was not uncommon for people who grew up in care to have criminal records.

“The fact is a number of survivors of child sex abuse will go on to lives, because of the trauma that they have suffered, that include criminal offending,” she said.

“To penalise that group because of their participation in criminal offending is a concern.”

Ian and his wife don’t have much contact with their families, and his wife’s biggest worry is the future for their son.

“As we are getting older we need to plan for when we are not here, to have support around him. I can’t rely on my family to look out for him,” she said.

Ian claims financial compensation would do nothing to ease his own mind and dark past, but he would like to be able to buy a block of land for his son.

“No amount of money or apologies or anything else is going to do anything about it. And I understand that’s how the victims of my crimes would feel as well,” he said.

“I can’t undo what is done. All I can do is do what I’m supposed to do and that is — you go to court, you get sentenced, you do your time. You get on with the rest of your life.

“I think in Australia they call that a fair go.”

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About the Foundation
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Preda Foundation Inc.

The work of Preda Foundation is focused on alleviating the physical, emotional, psychological and sexual abuse and suffering of children and preventing abuse through community education and social media.

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