Abused brothers and ‘army’ of supporters tell paedophile Vivian Frederick Deboo how he tore their family apart
THIS predator did more than just sexually abuse two brothers — he twisted their faith in their family and God, leading them to believe their parents had condoned his evil acts. Now his victims are fighting back with their “army” of supporters.
VIVIAN Frederick Deboo did more than sexually abuse two brothers — he twisted their faith in their God and their parents, leaving them to believe their torture had been condoned.
For almost three decades, the brothers — known as “A” and “B” — struggled with their emotional torment and unjustly, unfairly shattered relationship with their father.
On Thursday, they and an army of family, friends and supporters descended upon the District Court to confront Deboo and demand he be jailed for his heinous crimes.
In his victim impact statement, B urged the court to show “justice in its full force” with a harsh jail term.
“You sit here today with but one supporter by your side, everyone else in your miserable life has abandoned you … my brother and I stand here today with all these people,” he said.
“My brother and I stand here today with all these people”
“Our society now understands that no longer can any single person, Church or institution stand by, hide, shelter or support paedophiles.”
A looked directly at Deboo and said those who had ever supported the predator — from his wife through to his church — were “just as guilty as him”.
“I take comfort at the stark contrast to your own pitiful situation as I look around at the amazing group of family and friends that are here to support me today,” he said.
“They are my army and together, today, we have conquered the enemy.”
Deboo, 74, is a former caterer, Pentecostalist born-again Christian, Gospel Church choir member and Christian Camping Association president.
He has pleaded guilty to multiple counts of indecent assault and gross indecency, perpetrated against A and B in the 1990s.
They were but two of many boys who fell victim to his predatory ways in the Adelaide Hills and on the Fleurieu Peninsula.
In 1996, Deboo received a two-year non-parole period for some of his crimes — but A and B did not come forward about their abuse until 2015.
On Thursday, B said he had been “the softest of targets, a deer in the headlights” when Deboo abused him.
“A friend recently asked me what this all feels like … I described myself as feeling like a shattered crystal wine glass,” he said.
“I began life pure, and normal, and innocent — then Deboo smashed me apart.
“Over the years I have glued myself back together, piece by painful piece … from the outside, people may even look at me and think that I sparkle.
“But I’ll always be broken and bear the scars of what Deboo did to me — after all, a life sentence is for your entire life.”
He said he and A had been taught “to respect and obey God, the Bible and the people God had put in charge of me” — one of whom was Deboo.
“He used biblical words and scripture as he abused me … he spoke about my parents as he was sexually abusing me,” he said.
“He spoke about my parents as he was sexually abusing me”
“It really hurts me to say this, but I thought that Mum and Dad knew and somehow condoned it … of course this was not the case … my relationship with my parents can’t ever be the same.”
A said Deboo had “annihilated” his relationship with his father.
“Because of what you did I missed out on some of the best years with my Dad, right when a young boy needed his father most,” he said.
“I will never forgive you for this … this cannot be given back to me.”
Both brothers outlined decades of post-traumatic stress, trust issues, poor decisions, night terrors, anxiety and lost employment caused by the abuse.
Neither has been able to fully parent their children, saying Deboo had robbed them of precious family moments.
A and B said they were fortunate not to have taken their own lives at different points.
“Other victims of your abuse have taken their own lives and you need to realise those lost lives are your doing — the blood is on your hands,” A said.
“I stand here today as the voice for those who no longer have one … you have unintentionally lit a fire in my soul that can never be extinguished.”
B said the brothers had “suffered immeasurably” through the court process, with Deboo maintaining his innocence until the very eve of trial.
He urged the court to recognise the suffering all child sex victims endure by imposing “the maximum custodial sentence”.
“Deboo, you are as evil and disgusting to me today as you ever were … I see straight through your pathetic attempts at receiving clemency,” he said.
“You are as evil and disgusting to me today as you ever were”
“I can never escape my life sentence … there was no fair trial, there was certainly no defence … Deboo was my judge, my jury and my prosecutor.
“For me there is no parole period, there is no early release for good behaviour.
“I will always live out the life sentence handed down to me when I was an innocent kid — the last time I was ever an unbroken glass.”
In his victim impact statement, A and B’s father said the only thing more distressing than his children’s trauma was the way Deboo turned them against their family.
“(You gave) the unimaginable and totally revolting impression that somehow I, their father, was aware of what was happening (and) was in agreement with your sexual predation,” he said.
“Your acts of sexual predation upon two of our sons has not only caused me great and distressing pain, it has also caused the distortion of the father/son relationship.”
A’s wife told Deboo he was “not a person” but “nothing less than a disgusting, awful monster”.
“My husband fought you and he won, I’m the proudest wife in the world,” she said.
“You deserve nothing less than to burn in hell — and trust me, monsters like you do burn in hell.”
B’s wife said Deboo’s continuing freedom on bail, ahead of sentencing, made no sense.
“It’s absolutely horrifying to think people like Deboo are living their lives, with relatively little consequence, while others like us have been shattered,” she said.
“I simply cannot believe we, as a society, allow a man like Deboo to live and walk in the community after he has pleaded guilty to these most heinous crimes.”
Joana Fuller, for Deboo, asked sentencing submissions be adjourned so she could provide her client’s psychological report to the Department for Correctional Services.
She said she would be asking the court to sentence Deboo to home detention — a request to which Dr Peter Salu, prosecuting, objected.
He said state law only permitted a home detention sentence when “special reasons” of age or illness were present.
“The prisoner is 74 … that is not ‘advanced age’ and there is no evidence of infirmity,” he said.
“On that basis, Deboo does not get to first base.”
Judge Simon Stretton granted the adjournment and remanded Deboo on continuing bail to face court again in four weeks.