NT Father-of-five used his children as ‘bait’ to abuse girls for 20 years

A vile predator and Territory sports coach used his family to gain access to six girls over 20 years, with some of his victims as young as seven years old. WARNING: Distressing content.

Justice Kelly said a 68-year-old NT man’s “predatory and depraved” offending escalated over time, and he had shown no remorse or any prospect of rehabilitation

A predator who lured two girls from a remote Territory outstation and sexually abused them in bushland was warned by cops to “leave for your own safety”.

It would take another 15 years for the father-of-five to be arrested and charged for the sexual abuse of five children and the rape of a teenage girl over a 20-year period.

The now 68-year-old, who cannot be named because of another upcoming trial, was sentenced in the Supreme Court on Wednesday for abuse spanning from 1985-2005.

Justice Judith Kelly told the court that in May 2005 the father-of-five invited the 10 and 13-year-old into his ute and took them into remote bushland and forced them to undress.

The 13-year-old, who was mute and deaf due to childhood meningitis, watched as he raped her 10-year-old friend.

“(The 10-year-old) cried out for her parents to help her, but of course they were not there,” Justice Kelly said.

One of the mothers identified to NT Police who had taken the girls while she filed a missing person’s report.

One of the mothers identified to NT Police who had taken the girls while she filed a missing person’s report. Picture: Glenn Campbell

When the girls made it home, the 13-year-old used sign language to tell her mother there had been sexual activity with a white man.

Yet, when police arrived they did not arrest the predator.

“Police spoke with the offender and advised him to leave the outstation for his own safety,” Justice Kelly said.

She said while police records said the girls were taken to a medical clinic, “it is unknown if this occurred”.

The first of his six victims was just 10 years old when she woke up to find the then 32-year-old “trusted visitor to the family home” rubbing her breast area.

The family friend soon started preying on her seven-year-old sister, abusing her multiple times in 1992.

Northern Territory Supreme Court judge Justice Judith Kelly pictured in her chambers in Darwin.

The court heard the then 39-year-old used “dirty socks” to tie the child’s legs and hands together and blindfolded her while in the back of his VW Kombi van.

He then forced her to give him oral sex until she started to cry.

In another incident the 39-year-old convinced his victim’s father to let him take the kids to a tourist attraction more than two hours out of town.

On the way home he asked the seven-year-old if she wanted to drive and got her to sit on his lap.

The 39-year-old man started whispering to her, pulled off her underwear and pulled out his penis.

The girl resisted, causing the van to swerve and her three brothers in the back seat to wake up.

Seven years later he would target another seven-year-old girl on a sleepover at his home.

In November 1999, the child woke up to find her friend’s father touching her and asking her to “suck it like a lollipop” while masturbating.

The next morning he acted “as if nothing had happened” while his young victim and his family ate breakfast together.

His victims, now aged in their 30s and 40s, told the court they were deeply traumatised.

The court heard the man also twice raped an 18-year-old girl his son was seeing.

The teenager was walking home from basketball practice with friends sometime between 1997 and 1998, when he lured her into his ute with offers of a lift.

Rather than take her home, he drove her into pitch black bushland and repeatedly raped her, as she cried and tried to push and kick him away.

“He threatened that she would have to walk back to the community if she didn’t do as she was told,” Justice Kelly said.

“He threatened to follow her wherever she went.”

His victims, now aged in their 30s and 40s, told the court they were deeply traumatised.

“Having your innocence snatched and being dehumanised at that age was unfair and should never have happened,” one woman said while recounting the abuse she suffered as a seven-year-old.

She accused the father-of-five of using his own children as “bait” to gain access to her and her sister.

The mother of his 13-year-old victim told the court he targeted her deaf and mute daughter knowing she could not scream for help.

The now 68-year-old maintained his innocence, but was found guilty on all 11 counts by a jury during his trial in September.

“I felt bad that I could not protect my daughter,” she said.

The now 68-year-old maintained his innocence, but was found guilty on all 11 counts by a jury during his trial in September.

One woman said she was angry that he had forced her to recount his abuse, while another survivor said “he will continue to play the victim”.

The court heard he was a navy Vietnam veteran, who had worked across the Territory as a sports coach, umpire, the general manager of a local football league and as a council sports and recreation officer.

But Justice Kelly said the father-of-five could not claim he had a previously good character.

“He simply hadn’t been caught until recently,” she said.

How often are child abuse allegations false?

Unfortunately, the vast majority of abuse claims made by children turn out to be true.

In fact, a study of 50 South Australian Family Court files found that only nine per cent of abuse allegations made were false. 

Further research by the Australian Institute of Family Studies discovered that false allegations of abuse are most often made during divorce and separation proceedings.

When this happens, one parent typically tries to use the children against the other parent with unsubstantiated claims of violence and even child sexual abuse. 

in saying that, if a child tells you that they are being abused, please refer to this list of national child protection contacts. In most states and territories, a reporting hotline is staffed 24 hours a day, so you can make your report at anytime. You do not need to supply solid proof or confirm your suspicions before you make a report. 

If you're not quite ready to make a report to child protection, or if you want to speak to someone about your suspicions first, you can contact the Child Wise National Hotline on 1800 991 099. In every state and territory, the identity of any person who reports suspected child abuse is kept confidential. 

If you believe a child is in immediate danger, you should call Triple Zero.

Justice Kelly said his “predatory and depraved” offending escalated over time, and he had shown no remorse or any prospect of rehabilitation.

On Wednesday she sentenced him for offences against children, including indecently dealing, attempted carnal knowledge, unlawful carnal knowledge, gross indecency, and attempted sexual intercourse with a child, and sexual intercourse.

He was also found guilty of two counts of sexual intercourse without consent with the 18-year-old.

Taken separately he would have faced 74 years in prison, but Justice Kelly said she was required to allow him to serve some sentences concurrently.

Justice Kelly said she was “reluctantly” grouping some victims together to calculate a final total sentence of 19 years in prison.

He will not be eligible for parole until 2033.

Originally published as NT Father-of-five used his children as ‘bait’ to abuse girls for 20 years