Hey Dad! star Sarah Monahan reveals her terror at abuser still alive despite jail sentence

HER abuser remains locked away in a jail cell, six years before any chance of release, but former child star actor Sarah Monahan — known to Australians as little Jenny Kelly from the Hey Dad! series — still can’t shake the fear even the mention of his name triggers.

• Hey Dad! paedophile Robert Hughes makes fresh bid to appeal
• Prisoners throw excrement at paedophile actor
• Hughes ‘robbed of chance at fair trial’

HER abuser remains locked away in a jail cell, six years before any chance of release, but former child star actor Sarah Monahan still can’t shake the fear his very name triggers.

The fear he will be released early. The fear of his conviction being overturned, and her bravery falling to nothing. Almost 30 years since her on-screen dad Robert Hughes sexually abused her on the set of Seven’s Hey Dad!, Monahan has spoken of her traumatic life as Jenny Kelly, the fictional daughter of the man who molested her, the scars that will never heal, and the fear that is her unwanted companion.

In an exclusive interview with The Saturday Telegraph, Monahan admits she considered killing herself during Hughes’ high-profile trial, slams actor Cate Blanchett for praising Hughes’ partner Robyn Gardner in an Oscar acceptance speech, and criticises some of her former Hey Dad! colleagues for what she felt was only limited support during her ordeal.

An early Hey Dad! cast photograph with Robert Hughes (bottom left) and Sarah Monahan (bottom centre).

Monahan is bracing herself for an emotional return home to Australia to launch her autobiography, Allegedly, detailing her sexual abuse at the hands of Hughes — a launch that coincides with Hughes’ High Court special leave application.

“I am terrified that they will let him off,” Monahan told The Saturday Telegraph, admitting the prolonged abuse, compounded with the fact her mother disowned her during the trial, has turned her off having kids of her own with her husband, tech whiz Matt Morris.

With a cheeky smile and an adorable manner, Jenny Kelly was a heart-warmer beaming through the TV screen. But beneath the grin and the onscreen affection for Hughes’ character Martin Kelly, lay a suffering six-year-old, trapped in an evil web.

Hughes was her secret tormentor, his crimes only coming to light when Monahan bravely spoke of his deeds, together with four others indecently assaulted by the celebrated actor.

Hughes, 67, is serving a non-parole term of six years with a maximum of 10 years on 10 counts of sexual and indecent assault of four young girls over 20 years in the ’80s and ’90s.

Robert Hughes leaves court during the case. He will not be considered for release for at least six years.

Going through the trial was harder than coming to terms with the abuse. She was required to give evidence over four harrowing days, and it took a considerable toll.

“There were times I thought about killing myself, seriously,” she said.

“That last day of court, I didn’t know if I’d be able to make it back to the aeroplane and that was probably the worst day. The whole court thing and going public was more traumatising than the abuse. I got death threats, and there were people in the industry who were awful.”

Like many autobiographical authors, Monahan said writing Allegedly was a cathartic process.

She said the fuel that kept her fire ablaze was the faceless victims who might potentially pick up her book, and find words of healing. Perhaps her story would help those who felt helpless; those who had fought through such an ordeal and were looking for answers, reasons and a light at the end of the tunnel.

An image of former Hey Dad! child actor Sarah Monahan from her book, Allegedly shows her in her Concord school uniform.

“I came forward because I didn’t want anyone else to go through that experience. I wanted to teach parents who had their kids in the industry this is what you need to look out for, because it happens to so many of us. This is a potential if you throw your kid in the industry. It is like being thrown into a piranha pool,” she said.

What victims could never expect, she reiterated, was wholesale support and unconditional backing. Many friends and acquaintances were wonderful pillars to lean on. Some were shaky when controversy placed a wedge. Others were downright unhelpful.

She puts Cate Blanchett in that latter category and issued the star a difficult question. Would you, Cate, let Robert Hughes babysit your child?

The strange question is suddenly not so strange when her Oscars speech is thrown into the equation.

Blanchett, who has never expressed support for Hughes, has long been represented by his partner Robyn Gardner, of RGM management company.

Sarah Monahan in Florida: “I don’t really know what else I want to do when I grow up yet. I think I want to trophy-wife it for a while.”

In accepting her best actress award for Blue Jasmine, she famously thanked Gardner from the stage, during Hughes’ trial.

“Now that she’s got a daughter, would she let (Robert) at her house? I was livid,” Monahan said. “I couldn’t believe she did it. I get that she was trying to show her support for Robyn but it was a slap in the face to all the victims. I wonder if she would let ... Robert babysit her kids.”

At the time of the trial, Monahan’s fellow Hey Dad! cast mates were divided in their support. While Simone Buchanan (Debbie Kelly) appeared in court and Ben Oxenbould (Ben Hubner) was willing to be a witness against Hughes, Julie McGregor (Betty Wilson) and Chris Truswell (Nudge) spoke out against the case.

Monahan sat alongside Buchanan, Oxenbould, McGregor and Truswell in an A Current Affair special.

“They (McGregor and Trusswell) knew what was happening and then they chose to go on TV and say I maybe misinterpreted the situation,” Monahan said.

Of Oxenbould and Buchanan, she said: “They were there when I needed them. It was very hard for them because people were really awful to Ben and Simone when the whole thing was happening.”

Even though she hasn’t been on TV for many years, Monahan strongly believes the industry remains dangerous for child actors.

She’s part of the international support organisation, A Minor Consideration, using her experience of abuse to help other young actors going through the system.

“It is not an industry for kids,” she said defiantly. “I think it is still dangerous today. Look at how many right now are in Hollywood and how many people are being arrested right now that work on sets.”

As for the future, Monahan has only this week moved from Texas to Florida, where she’s not in a rush to start work again.

“It is a whole new start, all fresh,” she said. “It is perfect. The book comes out, I’ve got a new city to live in and it is like a clean slate to start off with all over again. I am going to take some time to settle in. I might start scuba diving again. I don’t really know what else I want to do when I grow up yet. I think I want to trophy-wife it for a while.”