Child sex survivor Jessica* speaks about vile abuse at hands of pedophile Randall Scott Waters

Jessica* thought she was falling in love with a 16-year-old skater boy, but she was being groomed by a convicted Adelaide pedophile. This is her story.

Jessica thought she was talking to a 16-year-old ‘Randy’ from Adelaide – but it was a convicted sex offender in his mid-40s. Picture: Sharon Smith

It all started with a friend request.

Jessica* thought she was talking to a 16-year-old ‘Randy’ from Adelaide – a skater boy who was simply looking to make new friends.

But on the other side of that screen was every parent’s worst nightmare.

A convicted sex offender in his mid-40s weaponising the anonymity of the internet to target the most vulnerable of victims.

Randall Scott Waters was more than just a predator – he was an insatiable monster who turned three little girls’ worlds upside down and completely stripped them of their childhood and innocence before they could even reach their teenage years.

Now 19, Jessica reflects on the horrific ordeal she and her two friends endured at only 12 years of age and having her life ruined by a man she’s never met.

Randall Waters pleaded guilty to multiple child sex offences. Picture: Facebook

The fake photos pedophile Randall Waters used to catfish Jessica and her friends. Picture: Facebook

Jessica’s traumatic abuse at the hands of a pedophile

Jessica, who was living in Perth, Western Australia, said after speaking to Waters on Instagram he asked to move their conversation to the messaging application, Viber.

“Everything was very innocent for the first I’d say month and a half of talking … he built a relationship with me over that time and eventually became my ‘boyfriend’,” she said.

However, Waters’ true intentions for Jessica quickly came to light – manipulating her to perform his sick sexual fantasies on video and send them to him.

“If I said I don’t know if I want to do that, he would say ‘well if you love me you would do that for me’,” she said.

Jessica said Waters’ vile sexual demands of her became a daily occurrence, and she still vividly remembers being on the bus home from school when he would call.

“I started to dread those phone calls because I just knew what was coming,” she said.

“If I had said I didn’t want to do something he would just nag me for hours or days … until he got what he wanted.”

One of the fake photos pedophile Randall Waters used … the boy’s face has been blurred to protect the identity of the real person. Picture: Facebook

While this was happening, Waters started chatting to two of Jessica’s friends and also began manipulating them for his twisted desires.

“My other friend, she was very depressed at the time and he used that to his advantage,” Jessica said.

Jessica and her friends were forced to perform horrific sexual acts on themselves and each other over the course of a year – including bestiality with their pets, eating their own faeces and drinking their own urine.

Waters also sent Jessica child exploitation material which he used to describe the acts he wanted her to perform, as well as getting her to post him her underwear.

Jessica said when Waters realised he was losing his grip on them towards the end of their relationship, he would threaten to send the girls’ images to their families and friends or post them online.

The final turning point for Jessica was when Waters asked her to send him photos and videos of her sexually abusing her baby brother.

“This was when I realised he was not who he said he was and he was definitely a pedophile,” she said.

How Jessica ended her nightmare

Jessica said she had previously tried to leave Waters but he would always threaten to kill himself if she did.

Ironically she got the push she needed from another complete stranger on the internet to finally end the relationship.

“I said to him ‘I’m leaving you, I don’t care what you do. You’ve already ruined my life so if you want to kill yourself that’s not on me’,” she said.

After blocking Waters at the end of 2012, Jessica told her mum a “small snippet” of what Waters did to her and they went to the local police station.

Jessica* at the age when the abuse started. Her face has been blurred to protect her identity. Photo: Supplied

Despite being armed with a mountain of evidence, including Waters’ full name and his address, the two female officers were not interested in taking Jessica’s report.

“What ended up being said was … if I ever did this again I would get fined for the distribution of child pornography,” she said.

“I knew when I went there that I was the victim … but then it made me almost second guess myself if I was the one doing wrong.”

Jessica said this experience made it very hard for her to build up the courage to report Waters again.

But in 2021, and in Jessica’s final year of school her English class was asked to write about a traumatic experience they had endured.

“When I wrote about it I realised how much I was actually still so hurt by the situation and how much I wasn’t actually healed,” she said.

“All those years of trauma really caught up to me … it was really only getting worse and not better.”

Jessica bravely decided to report Waters again – this time doing so to the Australian Federal Police (AFP) who immediately took action.

Waters’ arrest and the court process

When Waters was arrested in the granny flat of his parents’ Hackham West property, police found 1970 horrific child exploitation material files on his phones, including hundreds of Jessica and her friends.

Waters, now 52, pleaded guilty to multiple offences, including possessing child exploitation material and inciting an indecent act by a child.

Randall Waters was jailed for over a decade for his vile offending. Picture: Facebook

Randall Waters was considered a “low risk” of reoffending after completing a sexual offenders program. Picture: Facebook

He was sentenced by Judge Emily Telfer earlier this month to 10 years and seven months jail, with a non-parole period of eight years and five months.

During sentencing, Judge Telfer chastised Waters for failing to take advantage of the mercy shown to him at his last sentence.

Waters was sentenced in 2012 to three years jail, with a non-parole period of 12 months for sexually abusing another child and making a video of it.

After being released, Waters successfully completed a sexual offenders treatment program and was assessed as a “low risk” of reoffending.

The court heard despite Waters having a loving and secure family life growing up, he was a “psychologically inadequate man” who feared rejection.

A “social recluse” whose chronic loneliness and inability to find work after his release from jail leading to his vile online offending.

Judge Telfer said Waters’ motivation for his “cruel and exploitative” actions was the feeling of empowerment he got from manipulating Jessica and her friends.

Jessica said the court process was liberating but also very difficult.

“You do start to realise that no matter how long they go away for you’re always going to have that pain and you’re always going to have what they gave you,” she said.

“That’s just never going to leave because unfortunately that’s a part of your history now.”

The court article written by the Advertiser, which included a Facebook photo of Waters, was the first time Jessica ever saw her vile abuser’s face.

“Over the years I had kind of realised he probably isn’t a 16-year-old boy, and he’s probably a liar,” she said.

“I was shocked but not that shocked … but it was upsetting to realise just how old he was.”

Jessica’s road to recovery

For Jessica, dealing with the trauma of her horrific ordeal has been difficult – with Waters’ sickening actions leaving behind constant triggers.

“I still remember his voice very vividly. I would sometimes be at church or something and men would be talking … their voice would start to morph into his,” she said.

“I would panic thinking ‘oh my god, he’s in the room’.”

For Jessica*, dealing with the trauma of her horrific ordeal has been difficultt. Picture: Sharon Smith

Jessica said her mum cried a lot after finding out what Waters did to her daughter and blamed herself.

“It’s not her fault at all,” she said.

“When someone is manipulating you so much and grooming you they learn how to turn you against your family so they can have more control over you.

“He almost made me feel like he was the only person who could love me and not even my own family could love me.”

Jessica said educating children about the dangers of the internet rather than restricting them is the safest way to avoid a similar situation.

“The more you restrict them the more they’re going to want to be on those devices and do those things that you don’t want them to do,” she said.

“In order to tell children that this could happen, you actually need to say this could happen – you can’t just let them figure it out on their own.

“That’s their main hub now, they (pedophiles) don’t wait outside schools as much anymore … they go online because that’s where you can find vulnerable people.”

Jessica said it’s so important for children to be careful about who they talk to online and if they do find themselves in a similar situation to report it to AFP.

She also advised children to watch out for red flags, like the ones she saw with Waters – including his “mature voice” and constant refusals to Facetime.

But for now, the future for Jessica is looking bright – she hopes to study teaching at university, so she can make an impact on teenage lives and help them find their passion.

While Jessica knows her road to recovery certainly won’t be easy, she is determined to turn her trauma into something positive.

“If I have that voice and I’m willing to use it, I need to. I can’t sit around and pretend it never happened,” she said.

*A pseudonym has been used to protect the victim’s identity.