John Richard Daniel Voronoff’s child sex abuse victim shares letter to younger self

A brave woman who helped jail a Sunshine Coast predator for abusing her and other children penned a heartbreaking letter to her younger self which she read out in open court.

A 37-year-old woman who was one of four girls sexually abused by a Sunshine Coast man between the 1980s and 2000s, has opened up about the trauma she endured in an emotional statement.

Decades after suffering horrific child abuse at the hands of a Sunshine Coast man, a now 37-year-old woman has shared heartbreaking details in a letter penned to her younger self.

Four now adult-aged women and their families watched as their abuser, Cooloolabin man John Richard Daniel Voronoff, now 76, was brought to justice at Maroochydore District Court on July 31.

The court was told Voronoff’s victims between the 1980s and 2000s were less than 10-years-old when the abuse started. Two were as young as three.

One of the four women wrote an emotional letter to her eight-year-old self which she shared to the court as a victim impact statement.

Facing her abuser who sat in the court dock the woman said she went from a “bright, adventurous and loving” child to living with “pain, guilt and trauma”.

John Voronoff (pictured here in 1998) was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison for historic child sex abuse charges.

“To my younger self, as a little girl, I look back on you and see a happy, beautiful and outgoing child,” she said.

“It breaks my heart knowing that from such a young age, you’ve had to learn to live with a secret and a darkness where there should only have been love and light.”

She said what happened was not her fault and Voronoff was someone who preyed on her innocence and trust and “took it away”.

She then addressed Voronoff directly, saying she was “scared to (her) core” that she would turn turn into a “monster and predator” like him.

“You did this to me and the pain and suffering is so deep ... I carry this with me everyday still.

“You took so much away from me, from that little trusting girl, and your actions have caused me to question and distrust almost everyone that I love and was close to me throughout my entire life.”

She said she would never understand his actions.

“Your simple pleasure you took so many parts of me and I am reminded of this every day and I will never accept that. No one ever should,” she said.

“I stand here today to show that little girl I am here for her, that there are so many people here for her and that there are so many people here in her corner.”

She hoped Voronoff would spend the rest of his life knowing the effects of his actions, she said, which left her unable to love fully and trust completely.

“Everyone needs to know (Voronoff) didn’t care, that (he) had a need to satisfy (himself) at the full expense of others lives,” she said.

Voronoff pleaded guilty to 24 historic child sex abuse charges, including 12 of indecent treatment of children under 12, two of indecent treatment of children under 16 and one of maintaining an unlawful relationship with a child.

He was sentenced to seven and a half years’ jail with a parole eligibility on January 31, 2026.