Child sex survivor Mitchell Speck, speaks about abuse at hands of pedophile Craig Warner

At only eight years old, Mitchell Speck was subjected to sickening abuse by a vile predator (pictured) who hid in plain sight for over a decade. Now aged 20, he reveals his story of survival.

Mitchell Speck was abused by pedophile Craig Warner (centre). Photo: Supplied

At only eight years old, Mitchell Speck was tormented and subjected to sickening abuse by one of South Australia’s most vile pedophiles.

A young, bright boy who had their entire world in front of him was robbed of his childhood and innocence to fulfil Craig Warner’s sick and twisted needs.

For more than a decade, Warner, 43, carefully cultivated the persona of being a loyal friend, a helpful neighbour and someone who could be trusted around young boys.

And for all that time, nobody but his victims knew the true monster he really was.

But Mr Speck, now aged 20, has courageously told The Advertiser his journey from his darkest days to seeing the light on the other side.

Mitchell Speck as a child. He requested to have his face blurred. Photo: Supplied

Mitchell Speck at age 20. Photo: Supplied

He hopes by telling his story it will encourage other victims to speak up and seek justice and reduce the stigma of being a victim of sex abuse, particularly in the case of men.

A predator hiding in plain sight

With two victims already in his wake in Adelaide, Warner wasted no time grooming Mr Speck after moving in next door to him in his home town of Whyalla in 2011.

A man so charismatic that no parents would think twice about whether Warner could be trusted around their children.

“That’s really what his MO was – get the parent’s trust and then get the kids around there alone … and that’s when he would start abusing them,” Mr Speck said.

Warner had also set up the perfect environment to lure in his young victims by ensuring his house was always stocked with the latest electronics and video games.

Despite having no children himself, having a young boys’ dream play house sparked no red flags to anyone as Warner was seen as a big kid himself.

Whyalla, South Australia. Picture: Bernard Humphreys

Mr Speck would remember eagerly heading over to Warner’s house on the promise of being able to play a latest release video game – but it came at a heavy price.

“He would make sure you were distracting yourself with something while he was doing it (the abuse),” Mr Speck said.

Mr Speck said he would go home and cry into his pillow after every time Warner abused him, which was so repetitive and frequent he could not recall how many occasions there were.

After over a year of abuse, Mr Speck – who was aged only nine at the time – bravely told Warner that it was enough.

And Warner did stop for years but when Mr Speck was 15, he tried again – this time buying his silence with a new iPhone.

The court process

Mr Speck – who was 17 and in Year 11 at the time – still vividly remembers the day he knocked off work and was asked to go down to the police station.

It was there he learnt police had suspicions Warner had been abusing children.

“Up until that point I didn’t have any ambition to tell anyone … that’s the first time I admitted it,” Mr Speck said.

“I could honestly live with myself knowing that it was just me who succumbed to all that trauma but knowing that he’d been abusing all these kids over all these years …

“Especially for it to happen to a kid after me, that’s what really hit home for me.

“I do beat myself up over it, I could have spoken up.”

Mr Speck said when his parents – who still considered Warner a friend at the time – discovered the heinous truth they were devastated and shocked to the core.

“They feel so guilty … but ultimately just like I feel guilt for the victim after me, it’s not their fault,” he said.

Warner’s decade of secrecy, manipulation and deception had finally come to an end - but not before robbing six boys of their childhood and inflicting them with lifelong trauma.

Craig Warner was jailed for over two decades for his horrific abuse. Picture: Supplied

Craig Warner would groom and manipulate his victims into silence. Picture: Supplied

Mr Speck said the court process was very draining but it was a “massive sigh of relief” when Warner was finally sentenced.

Warner, who pleaded guilty to five counts of maintaining an unlawful sexual relationship with a child and indecent assault, was hit with a mammoth 24-year sentence, with a non-parole period of 19 years and two months in December 2021.

Mr Speck said while it gave him some comfort to know Warner would be wasting away in jail, no sentence could come close to the trauma he inflicted on the victims and their families.

However, Warner delivered another blow to his victims – pleading to the Court of Appeal last year for a lighter sentence by arguing his previous “good character” hadn’t been taken into account.

“There should be some room for some light at the end of the tunnel, some room for him to think it worthwhile to rehabilitate himself,” Johns Lyons, for Warner, said during the appeal.

A lonely man that, according to his lawyer, was “hot wired” from an early age into the behaviour and lived a “sad and tragic” life because of his own sexuality.

However, Chief Justice Chris Kourakis and Justices Mark Livesey and Samuel Doyle knocked back the appeal, saying Warner had “countless opportunities” to stop his depraved offending.

The toll of Warner’s sickening abuse

After admitting Warner’s abuse for the first time, Mr Speck said the haunting memories came flooding back and set him onto a downward spiral.

“I dropped out of school, I quit my job and definitely turned to some probably not the best coping mechanisms,” he said.

“I did attempt suicide a couple of times … I was in my room for months on end, I didn’t eat, isolated myself, cut off everyone I cared about.”

However, Mr Speck said his life has now done a full 180 since his darkest times, with

his parents being a huge support during the process.

He is now working at a local sports store and has aspirations to study youth work and psychology at university.

Mr Speck also hopes to channel his own abuse by starting a business specifically catered to helping sexual assault victims.

Why did Mitchell decide to tell his story?

Mr Speck, who travelled six hours from Whyalla to Adelaide by bus to tell his story, said he knows child sex crimes are tragically a common occurrence.

He hopes by putting forward his name as a victim, it will help others in similar situations not feel as alone.

“A lot of people, as I did for all those years, just sit in silence because either they’re too scared to come forward or they’re scared of what other people may think of them,” Mr Speck said.

“I definitely did think that but if no one spoke out … there could be two, three, four, however many kids.

“He (Warner) would have never stopped, that’s just more lives that would be in peril.”

Mr Speck said seeking justice was a massive part of closure for him.

“You have all these unanswered questions that eat away at you – why’d they choose me? Why did this happen to me? Is there something wrong with me?” he said.

“If you don’t seek out justice and actually speak out, you’re just going to keep spiralling and spiralling.”

Mr Speck believes there’s a huge stigma with male sexual assault victims, due to men generally suppressing their emotions more than women.

“It wrecks them, they’re stuck with their own thoughts and it kind of makes them feel invalid as a person and they just feel violated for the rest of their lives,” he said.

Mr Speck said it was “very scary” speaking out but it helped him move forward and develop as the person he is today - helping to inspire other survivors.

“No matter how dehumanising or small being a victim of sexual abuse may make one feel, the realisation has to be made that you are not alone and you matter,” he said.

“As daunting as it may be, you can not let it define you as a person as you are capable of so much positivity in your life.

“You can’t let it rule you, instead channel that pain and trauma into something better than hurt. People see you… and they do care for you.”

Whether it be a trusted community member like Warner, predators come from all walks of life and prey on our most innocent with devious crimes.

There are currently 1905 convicted child sex offenders subject to reporting conditions in SA, and with dark web platforms significantly increasing, child abusers have more opportunities than ever to prey on the vulnerable.

Last month, News Corp Australia launched Predatory, an eight-part podcast series, shining a light on the insidious world of child sexual abuse and the sick individuals who perpetrate these awful crimes.

The series aims to give voice to victims of child sexual abuse, help to dispel some of the most common myths about the perpetrators and provide expert advice about how families and communities can help keep their children safe.

A report released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics in 2021 revealed almost 50 per cent or 875 of all sexual assault victims were aged under 18 years at the time of the offence and 82 per cent or 1466 victims knew their offenders.

Statistics prove that these vile monsters are far more likely to be someone you invited into your home rather than a creep on the internet or a stranger lurking in a playground.

Victims like Mr Speck speaking up help break down the stigma, the shame and the burden of guilt so many survivors struggle with.

It is the key to setting them free.