Bega paedophile Maurice Van Ryn’s vile compensation threat to victims
SEX monster and former Bega Cheese boss Maurice Van Ryn has threatened to make his child victims squirm in the witness box and undergo medical exams if they pursue him for compensation.
NSW
Don't miss out on the headlines from NSW. Followed categories will be added to My News.
VILE paedophile Maurice Van Ryn threatened his victims from behind bars that he would force them to be medically examined and quizzed in the witness box if they pursued him for compensation.
The former multi-millionaire Bega Cheese boss is claiming to be virtually penniless as he fights a pending civil claim — but an investigation by The Daily Telegraph can today reveal his former shareholdings and assets would today be worth more than $9 million.
Victims groups yesterday said it was “reprehensible” that paedophiles like Van Ryn could hide behind the law to cheat their victims.
The 62-year-old — who is serving a jail sentence of at least 13 years and six months — warned the families of his nine victims that he would force their sons and daughters to prove that his predatory behaviour “damaged” them if they turned down his paltry offer to settle the case.
The threat to force them into the witness box to be cross-examined, despite the fact he pleaded guilty to all 17 child sexual assault offences, came in a letter which he instructed his solicitors to send from his jail cell.
The disgraced company director has also refused to take part in court-ordered mediation which aimed to avoid a long and emotional civil case.
The letter from his former solicitors told the victims they would have to “establish damage in each and every case” and “the issue of damages would be argued strenuously in court”.
“This of course would require each of the plaintiffs to be medically examined by appropriate qualified specialists at the request of the defendant, and ultimately the need for evidence and cross-examination,” the letter said.
The victims, whose parents were family friends of the former Bega Cheese CEO, refused his settlement offer and the case is due to begin in the District Court next month with Van Ryn’s new legal team.
READ MORE: IMPACT ON VICTIMS ‘SHOCKING AS MURDER’
Victims advocate Howard Brown said yesterday that with the number of victims and crimes against them, the court could be expected to award significant compensation into the millions of dollars.
But Van Ryn told the Supreme Court in 2015, when the victims won an order freezing his assets, that he had just $26,962.
Mr Brown said a common technique to protect assets was to pay money into a superannuation fund, which could not be touched.
“His previous shareholdings as a director of a number of public companies is on the public record. However, now it would appear that the richest man in the Bega Valley is now almost penniless,” a source said.
The Daily Telegraph can reveal that he resigned from his lucrative directorship of two high-profile companies the day after he pleaded guilty in Bega District Court to the first of the offences, the sexual assault of an eight-year-old girl.
One of those companies, Medical Developments International (MDI), famous for asthma products and other devices, put out an official statement to the stock exchange that day which said: “After over 30 years on the board ... Mr Van Ryn has resigned to pursue travel and other opportunities.”
Company records show he held 1,296,055 shares in MDI at the time, plus another 72,188 with his wife Louise. They would now be worth $7,840,032.
A week later he resigned as a director of Probiotec Limited, famous for its Celebrity Slim weight-loss plan, with 1.04 million shares, which would be worth around $646,000 today.
As general manager of Bega Cheese in 2011 he earned $323,895. In 2012, when he stepped down as general manager six months into the financial year, he earned $277,701.
He also had 114,480 company shares, worth $824,256 if he kept them. He has claimed to friends that he sold them at $2 a share, which would still have made him $228,960.
Last year his family home on the state’s south coast was sold for $725,000.