Survivors speak out as brazen Mid-North Coast child sex abuser sentenced for horrific offending

An elderly man was idolised by many in a Mid-North Coast town, but he sexually abused young girls from the mid-1960s to the early ‘80s. Now, he has been sentenced for his shocking crimes.

Taree Police Station.

An elderly man was idolised by many in a town on the Mid-North Coast, but he sexually abused young girls from the mid 1960s to the early ‘80s – and has now been sentenced.

The man, now 77, abused family members and neighbours as young as 10 – one victim was labelled a “lazy sl-t” by her own parents when she tried to speak out.

The Mid-North Coast News is legally prevented from naming the elderly child sex offender to protect the identity of the five who survived his abuse.

He has been locked up, remanded in custody since entering a guilty plea last July to eight counts of assaulting and committing an act of indecency against a girl younger than 16 and one count of inciting a girl under 16 to conduct an act of indecency.

In Taree District Court, Judge Robert Sutherland sentenced the man to a five-year prison term backdated to when he was first remanded.

The 77-year-old leaves court on July 10. He cannot legally be named.

He will be eligible for release on parole on July 23, 2028, it was revealed on April 26.

During his delivery Judge Sutherland spoke of the “inevitable trauma over an extended period of time” suffered by the young victims.

The offending in the Taree area included exposing himself, asking girl

s to wash his genitalia and to rub powder on the area.

Five victims came forward to report the abuse, the court heard. File image.

One time, the man offered a young girl a lift on his motorbike and forced her to touch him sexually, asking “have you got any little titties yet?”, the court heard.

The man abused one girl while teaching her supposed “life saving techniques” in a river.

On another occasion he “wrestled” a girl under a table and held his hand over her mouth as he stripped her clothing and sexually assaulted her.

‘Lived with the stigma of his denial’

A survivor related to the man, who was abused for many years, spoke out and was grateful he had been locked up.

The woman applauded her fellow victim-survivors for their courage in coming forward.

“While it could be seen as lenient, it is a substantial time for an elderly man,” she said.

“I am very grateful to my fellow complainants for their bravery and to the excellent work by the police and DPP (Director of Public Prosecutions).”

The survivors of the man’s abuse waited years for justice to be done. File image.

Earlier, the court heard the man offended against one girl for five years from age nine to 14.

Another was a neighbour and her parents refused to believe her accounts of abuse.

They verbally abused her instead, according to a victim impact statement handed up earlier in proceedings.

“I lost trust in my parents and was ostracised by the small community,” she said.

“I lived with the stigma of his denial while he sat silent for 45 years.”

After the sentence, the same survivor said she finally felt vindicated after being labelled a liar.

In some way, she hopes the man will survive prison and emerge to live the “full experience” of being a registered child sex offender.

She described the man as getting about in the community as a confident “cock rooster” at clubs and social gatherings.

“But he’s not going to be able to demean me anymore,” she said.

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