Former Neighbours star Madeleine West reveals her abuser after Peter White is sentenced to jail
Madeleine West has spoken about being one of the victims of a serial pedophile who has finally been brought to justice.
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Former Neighbours star Madeleine West has revealed she is one of the many victims of a serial pedophile who has finally been brought to justice this week for shocking child sexual abuse he committed in the 1970s and 80s.
Peter White, 73, was on Wednesday sentenced by the County Court to 15 years behind bars, pleading guilty to 33 sex offence charges, the Herald Sun reports.
West posted about the verdict on Instagram in a lengthy post, writing: “We won … guilty, guilty, guilty.”
She described it as the “best Christmas present we could wish for” even though it took 40 years to be delivered, labelling the abuse a “life sentence”.
“It’s just a pittance compared to the life sentence served by victims of childhood sexual assault, but todays ruling demonstrates that victim survivors are not alone, it was never our fault, we aren’t broken and that justice is possible,” she wrote.
White preyed on seven boys and girls aged between four and 14 in the small central Victorian town of Woodend between 1977 and 1988.
White made the children perform degrading sexual acts by telling the children they were “games”.
The abuse included groping the children’s genitalia, penetrating children with his fingers, raping them with his penis and exposing them.
Judge Amanda Chambers described the offending as “extremely serious” and “repugnant”.
White told a clinical psychologist that he didn’t know why he offended but hypothesised he was “young and stupid”.
West has said previously she was abused by “monster” who lived in the same town as her growing up.
The abuse happened “many times” – sometimes daily, she said, adding offenders usually convince their victims that they are the ones to blame, which is all part of their controlling nature to get what they want and avoid detection.
“We believe that what they say is true even when our instincts are screaming the opposite,” she said.
“This monster ruined my life.”
West has also spoken about the devastating impact of the trauma on her life, including her struggles with anorexia and mental health issues.
“Like so many other teens, carrying the scars of childhood trauma, I sought to control my body … by torturing it,” she explained.
“Contorting it into what I deludedly thought would make me loveable, acceptable, beautiful. I was so broken. I was so wrong.”
West appeared on Neighbours for a total of six years over two periods from 2000 to 2003 and 2017 to 2020.
Originally published as Former Neighbours star Madeleine West reveals her abuser after Peter White is sentenced to jail
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