Michelle Milthorpe opens up about her daughters’ sexual abuse to Gary Jubelin on I Catch Killers

A NSW mum has opened up about the moment her five-year-old told her she was being sexually assaulted by a family friend. Listen to the podcast. Warning: Distressing content

Australian mum Michelle Milthorpe has opened up about the day she found out her young daughters were sexually assaulted by a family friend.

Ms Milthorpe, from Albury, learned what was going on when her five-year-old, Rose, climbed into her bed one Sunday morning.

“Rose sort of dropped this bomb and then she moved on with her life really, really quickly. I think that’s probably pretty indicative of how things went from there – it was like we were on this parallel track that just jumped everything about,” she said.

Ms Milthorpe has opened up to former NSW homicide detective Gary Jubelin in the podcast, I Catch Killers, about the day her life was turned upside-down after she realised her children were being groomed.

Jubelin recalled how her daughter jumped into her bed on a Sunday morning in 2013 and said “Mummy I’ve got something to tell you”.

He went on to say that Rose said: “Mummy, I don’t like Leon* licking my vagina.”

When she went to tell her husband Brent, she vomited. She said: “I couldn’t speak, and then I told him what she’d said, and then she repeated that to him. And it kind of just started this amazing rollercoaster that was really, really crap.”

Police were called and an investigation began, and Ms Milthorpe learned more about how the abuse against two of her three daughters was able to continue. Pippa, who was eight-years-old at the time, and Rose were assaulted, but their third daughter Maggie was not.

Ms Milthorpe learned about one occasion in particular when Maggie was upstairs with the perpetrator Leon’s* wife, Jen*. Pippa and Rose were downstairs with Leon*.

Maggie told her sisters to go upstairs because lunch was ready.

Leon* said: “Pip, you go up, Rose and I’ll stay here for a bit.”

Pip knew what he was going to do, so she told Rose to go upstairs for lunch instead while she stayed with Leon*.

I Catch Killers podcast host Gary Jubelin with guest Michelle Milthorpe, whose children survived sexual abuse. Photo: Tom Parrish

Ms Milthorpe told Jubelin: “What a girl, protecting a little sister.”

When their case finally came to court after two years, they were forced to relocate from their home in Albury-Wodonga to Sydney.

They lived in hotels for three months during the trial.

The accused pedophile in their case was convicted of six counts of aggravated indecent assault against Pippa. He was acquitted of four charges of aggravated indecent assault in relation to Rose.

Pippa and Rose Milthorpe as young kids. Picture: Supplied

More recently, as teenage survivors of child sexual abuse, Rose and Pippa helped spearhead the original #JusticeShouldntHurt campaign in 2022 with their mother Michelle and news.com.au.

It called for funding to expand a program help to make court less traumatic for child sexual abuse victims.

It is now a permanent program across NSW after former premier Dominic Perrottet announced a four-year $64.3 million investment to expand the Child Sexual Offences Evidence Program (CSOEP) to every district court and police district in the state.

Young people can pre-record evidence including examination, cross-examination and re-examination in front of a judge and lawyers, with no jury present.

Listen to the I Catch Killers podcast to hear more.

*Names have been changed for legal reasons.

If you or anyone you know needs help:

National Sexual Assault, Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service: 1800RESPECT, 1800 737 732

Blue Knot Helpline: 1300 657 380

Lifeline: 13 11 14

Headspace: 1800 650 890

QLife: 1800 184 527

Originally published as Michelle Milthorpe opens up about her daughters’ sexual abuse to Gary Jubelin on I Catch Killers