Bob Montgomery: Big Brother psychologist’s victims speak of sex abuse

Three victims of child sexual abuse at the hands of former scoutmaster and Big Brother shrink Bob Montgomery have bravely stared down their attacker in court to detail how his actions had “ruined their lives”.

Bob Montgomery’s world came crashing down earlier this month when the celebrity psychologist pleaded guilty to a raft of historical child sex offences in Sydney. Picture: Jerad Williams

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Victims of child sexual abuse at the hands of a former Family Court custody dispute expert and celebrity psychologist have bravely stared down their attacker in court, detailing the horror they endured 40 years ago.

The three men held back tears in the Downing Centre District Court on Thursday as they directly addressed Bob Montgomery, who sexually assaulted them while he was a Sydney scout master in the 1960s.

Montgomery, from the Gold Coast and now in his 70s, is mostly known for his role on reality show Big Brother where he appeared as a consultant but had a prominent position within the Family Court system prior to his arrest.

Montgomery had spent the better part of a year denying their accusations before pleading guilty earlier this month.

As part of his job he would write family reports for the court and appear as an expert witness, a role which can involve assessing the credibility of child sex abuse allegations in custody disputes.

In January 2019, he was charged with two counts of buggery and multiple indecent assaults after allegations of sexual abuse against four 12-year-old boys in the suburbs of Edgecliff and Marrickville came to light.

Montgomery pleaded guilty to the offences earlier this month after more than a year of maintaining his innocence.

He was beamed into the court by audio visual link from his Queensland home.

The Gold coast psychologist faces a maximum penalty of 14 years in jail.

The court heard from one victim that his life had “gone off the rails before I had even got on them”.

“The abuse started with grooming, making me feel special to be a friend of an adult and a trusted person of authority,” the now 66-year-old man said.

“At his home he encouraged me to explore my sexuality and to masturbate, this was with him looking on while I was on the lounge.

“My next recollection was of the events inside the tent (on a camping trip), that of the act of sodomy perpetrated on me by Robert Montgomery … I felt extreme pain and discomfort.”

A forensic psychologist with decades of experience in the field, Montgomery’s resume includes treating contestants on Big Brother as well as profiling the likes of serial rapist and murderer Raymond Edmunds.

Montgomery’s work involved him profiling rapists and murderers before his spectacular fall from grace last year.

His literary works encompass 30 scientific journal articles and a series of 13-self help books, one of which titled Successful Sex he published with his wife.

His sentencing marks the spectacular downfall for a practitioner once considered one of the best in the country.

After being appointed the president of the Australian Pyschologist’s Society, Montgomery went on to head up the psychology program at Bond University in the 1990s before moving on to the University of Canberra and the University of the Sunshine Coast.

Another victim said the abuse had left him unable to show affection while a third told the court Montgomery’s actions have “never gone away despite my attempts to block it out”.

Montgomery’s sentencing hearing will resume later this year.

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