Former SA Police officer Simon Gorzechowski faces his victim, ex-wife, as they read victim impact statements in court

A former police officer who was rejected from the SAPOL’s elite STAR group, is a pedophile and a predator who not only betrayed his family, but the trust of the community, a court has heard.

• Vile crimes exposed after brave girl speaks up

Former SA Police officer Simon Gorzechowski scoffed and shook his head in the dock of the South Australian District Court as his teenage victim – his own stepdaughter – fought back tears as she told him he’d stolen her childhood from her.

Gorzechowski, 41 of Old Reynella, was jailed last year after he was found guilty of sexually assaulting the teenager at trial.

The former cop was found guilty of two counts of unlawful sexual intercourse at trial late last year after his then 15-year-old stepdaughter opened up to a therapist about his abuse, which took place between September or October 2021.

“You’ve done many things to hurt me, but none as bad as the time you wanted to be a pedophile,” the teenager said in her victim impact statement on Wednesday morning.

“Married to my mother, father to my sister, father-figure to me of over ten years at the time, and you thought it would be a good idea to throw it all away like we meant nothing to you.

Simon Gorzechowski was found guilty at trial of sexually abusing his teen stepdaughter. The victim is not pictured here with Simon Gorzechowski.

He sat shaking his head as his young victim and her mother gave impact statements to the court on Wednesday.

“I don’t understand how you can be in the police force for so long just to commit one of the worst offences possible and to your own family. It takes a special kind of person to be so disgusting.

“Police are supposed to protect. Dads are supposed to support. You are controlling and manipulative.”

The court heard that in the year between his offending and it being reported to police, Gorzechowski told the teenager he would take his own life if she ever reported it.

“I was a child and I was helpless,” she said.

“You filled me with such guilt for what happened and manipulated me to think it was my fault.

The teenage victim of Gorzechowski (second from right) leaves court with family after reading victim impact statements. Picture: Roy VanDerVegt

“I can’t believe I used to call you dad. I wish nothing but the worst for you and I will never forgive the shame and disrespect you’ve caused my family.”

The victim’s mother – Gorzechowski’s former wife – sobbed as she told the court she felt like she had let her daughter down, having “missed the signs” that her husband had abused her own child.

“You turned out to be the worst kind of predator, hiding behind a mask of love and trust,” she said.

“You served as a police officer for ten plus years, a position of trust, authority and responsibility. You were someone that the public relied on to protect the vulnerable, yet you turned your back on those very principles and became a predator, violating the trust of everyone who believed in you – especially my daughter.”

“I am now consumed with constant feelings of guilt and shame and I struggle every day with the fact that I missed the signs.”

As the two read their impact statements to the court, Gorzechowski could be seen scoffing, shaking his head, with his supporters in the gallery also seen laughing.

Paul Rice KC, for Gorzechowski, told Auxiliary Judge Gordon Barrett that his client and the victim had consumed alcohol the night he abused her, and that he had suffered with depression and anxiety for years prior.

He said Gorzechowski turned to drinking as a way to cope with his ill mental health – ill health that was exacerbated by the fact he was turned away from joining SA Police’s STAR group.

Gorzechowski will return to court next week for sentencing.