As Sarah* rolls another cigarette, the air of her Warwick home lingers with the sour smell of tobacco.

Smoking is her only way to stay sane as she battles the horrific childhood memories that haunt her daily.

Sarah’s young children play carefree at her feet, oblivious to the pain their Mum carries through life.

Their joyous and infectious nature is a stark contrast to Sarah, whose tired eyes hide psychological scars.

Scars formed at the hand of an extraordinarily abusive monster.

It is this depraved, sickening stepfather who remains at the root of Sarah’s nightmares.

“My kids are my life and I won’t let them go through what I went through,” she said.

“I have never had a babysitter and I have never spent a night away from them.

“I do what I do to protect my children.”

The abuse

While other children were out enjoying life with their friends, Sarah was trapped.

The world she knew from age eight was an abusive one, where a perverted stepfather starved Sarah and her siblings and subjected them to shocking physical and sexual abuse.

His horrific crimes first came to the attention of the Queensland Department of Education when teachers noticed bruises on Sarah’s brother’s face in June 2002.

While living south of Brisbane, Sarah detailed the harrowing abuse to a school guidance counsellor.

She alleges those complaints of abuse fell on deaf ears.

At age 11, Sarah again confided in two teachers.

The stepfather denied the allegations when interviewed by police.

She alleges a Department of Child Safety case worker also denied any abuse had taken place.

Despite this, a Child Protection Notice had already been issued back in March of 2002, which led to her brother’s temporary stay with a foster family.

That was the first of many protection orders that did little to prevent abuse at the hands of the stepfather.

Sarah was placed in an emergency foster home for 12 weeks in 2003 following an investigation into her allegations.

“When the court order ran out and I was placed back at home the sexual abuse got worse and more frequent,” Sarah said.

“I told my caseworkers I did not want to go back but no one listened to me.”

By Christmas Sarah was back living with her mother and stepfather, who denied her food and water and suffered the worst forms of sexual and physical abuse.

This abuse included sexual assaults allegedly at the hands of her other family members.

“The abuse got worse until January 14, 2004 where I ran away to a friend’s house after being abused,” Sarah said.

“I told my case worker I would not be going home, DOCS picked me up and got me an emergency care placement.”

“I was there for a couple of weeks.

Sarah was then placed on a 12-month order, where she moved between foster homes every few months.

Some were loving, caring homes.

Others were hell, with one in particular burned into her memory.

“Lois* she was a lovely lady but she did have a problem with drinking,” Sarah said.

“She became very verbally abusive, not to us kids, but neighbours copped it, and anyone who walked by.”

In September 2004, the family went on a beach holiday and stayed at Surfers Paradise.

Sarah alleges during this trip she was raped by the biological brother of another foster child.

She was 13 at the time, and her attacker was 18.

Sarah said she told DOCS and was immediately moved to another foster home.

She said there was no follow-up investigation.

“No one has told me how he was able to come on holiday with us,” she said.

Sarah’s foster care experience would stabilise, and celebrated her 18th birthday while living independently in Warwick.

The investigation

About a decade after leaving foster care, Sarah received a call from a cold case detective in Brisbane.

The officer had picked up the file and asked if she still wanted to pursue charges against her other family members and stepfather.

“It was the first time anyone believed me,” she said.

“My other family member was arrested first and then my stepfather was arrested about 18 months after that.”

Sarah’s stepfather initially fought the charges but changed his plea to guilty on the day before his trial in early 2023.

Beenleigh District Court heard Child Safety did not believe Sarah and the stepfather initially denied the allegations, threatening to flog her with a belt if she told anyone.

In a harrowing victim impact statement tendered to the court, she shared the destruction the now 53-year-old man had caused to the family.

“No matter how much I washed myself I never felt clean from you,” her statement said.

“There is no jail sentence that will rectify the life sentence you gave me. You destroyed my childhood, every time I smell baby powder I fear for my safety.

“You ruined my family.”

The stepfather pleaded guilty to 16 counts of rape, five counts of indecent treatment of a child under 16 and two counts of maintaining an unlawful relationship with a child.

He was sentenced to 14 years in prison.

Judge Craig Chowdhury said the man’s behaviour was sheer awfulness and the fact it was allowed to happen was a serious failing on the mother’s part.

He described the man’s actions as “deplorable, disgraceful and appalling”.

“It was a relief that he got sentenced and that he accepted what he did,” Sarah said.

“After years of no one believing me to having everyone believe me, was such a weight lifted off me, but it will never change what he did, that it’s something I have to live with.”

The case against her other family members is set for a mention in the Supreme Court later this year, but no plea entered.

The civil lawsuit

As a result of the horrific abuse, Sarah suffers from complete post-traumatic stress disorder and secondary major depressive disorder.

Her family was torn apart and she no longer speaks with her mother, who Sarah said has still not accepted her role in allowing Sarah’s abuse to continue unchecked.

It has also profoundly affected her relationship with her three young sons.

“The kids keep me grounded but there are points where I have bad days and I can’t cope mentally,” Sarah said.

“Anything can set me off, from smells to TV or food. It could be something someone is wearing. I have anxiety attacks, panic attacks and severe nightmares.”

Sarah has now launched a civil suit against the Queensland Government, alleging the Department of Child Safety and the Department of Education failed in its duty of care.

Sarah said she repeatedly told her Department of Child Safety case workers about the abuse.

“I just wish it didn’t happen, but unfortunately this is the world we live in,” she said.

“I think about it every day.

“DOCS picks and chooses what cases it cares about, but I gave them no room to budge when I was younger.

“There needs to be change in the system, the department needs to listen to the rights and wishes of children.”

The civil suit outlines a litany of alleged failures on the department’s part, including that it failed to communicate properly with police and the Department of Education.

It further alleges the department failed to properly investigate Sarah’s claims, that it failed to remove her from the care of stepfather and other family members when it should have known she was being abused, and that it failed to properly train its foster carers.

It also alleges the department failed to allow Sarah to take part in the decisions affecting her life, an action that would have spared her of the abuse.

Shine Lawyers filed the civil suit in the Brisbane District Court in 2021.

After four years of mediation, the matter is still unresolved.

Legal practice manager Kylie Carson said it was heartbreaking to see how badly a system designed to protect children had failed Sarah.

“We allege that our client reported the abuse that she was suffering to both departments who, despite being notified, continued to place her in situations where she would suffer further abuse,” Ms Carson said.

“Our client needed the system to protect her from someone perpetrating the worst kind of evil.

“We allege that not only did authorities fail to keep her safe, but that their actions contributed to her enduring further trauma.”

Ms Carson said the fact that Sarah’s stepfather has been found guilty of abusing her while under the watch of Child Safety should have expedited the civil suit.

The delay

Questions have been raised about whether the state is adhering to its own guidelines for responding to civil litigation involving child abuse that were published in the wake of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

The guidelines say the State should be mindful of how litigation can re-traumatise survivors and resolve the matters without a formal statement of claim, out of court and without unnecessary cost and delay.

According to data collected by the Australian Productivity Commission, 167 Queensland children in care were subjected to sexual, physical or emotional abuse, or neglect in 2021-22.

It equates to about 1.2 per cent of children in care in Queensland.

Nationwide that number jumps to about 1200.

Toowoomba South MP David Janetzki MP was sickened to hear the horrors perpetrated against the young girl by her stepfather.

“Home is where children should feel safe and loved – yet that evil man turned this little girl’s home into a house of horrors,” he said.

“She was raped, sodomised, subjected to degrading acts, belted, tortured, starved, and threatened,” he said.

“Child Safety already had this girl’s family on their books, yet no one would listen to her cries for help and she was repeatedly returned home to her abuser.

“This girl not only fell through the cracks of a broken Child Safety system, she lived there for many years and suffered unnecessarily.”

A Department of Child Safety spokeswoman said she could not comment as the matter was before the courts.

“The Queensland Government is committed to protecting children in care and keeping them safe,” she said.

“The sexual abuse of children is abhorrent.

“We always strive to conduct ourselves as a model litigant in the conduct of all litigation, ensuring we meet our obligations to uphold ethical and professional standards, and deal with claims as promptly as we can.”

* Name changed for privacy reasons.