‘War with myself’: Child abusing former Berejiklian staffer confronted by survivors

A man and woman who were abused as children by a former staffer for Gladys Berejiklian have confronted their attacker in court after he pleaded guilty.

Victim impact statements were read out in Sydney’s Downing Centre. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Nikki Short

A young man and woman, who survived sexual abuse at the hands of a former political staffer, have confronted the confessed attacker in court revealing the emotional damage he wrought on their lives.

NSW Police detectives, in late 2020, arrested and charged a Sydney man with the historic abuse of two children in the mid-1990s after four years of investigation.

The male and female victims told police that, as children, an older boy had sexually abused them under the guise of playing “games” at their home.

The abuser went on to work in politics, including as a staffer for Premier Gladys Berejiklian, but was not working in government at the time of his arrest.

There is no suggestion the former Premier, Ms Berejiklian, or anyone else knew about the man’s crimes which took place long before his career in politics.

Last week The Daily Telegraph advocated for suppression orders to expire so it could be revealed the staffer pleaded guilty to six charges including aggravated indecency with a person under the age of 16 and under authority and indecent assault of a person under authority.

The young man and woman, now adults, revealed the ongoing trauma their abuser has wrought on them. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Nikki Short

The NSW District Court heard the abuser was aged 14 to 16-years-old at the time of his crimes and his victims were aged eight to 11-years-old.

The abuser can never be legally identified because he was not an adult at the time of offending and victims of sexual assault also have their identities protected in NSW.

But the words of the young man and woman, who survived his abuse, can be reported after they read out emotional victim impact statements in Sydney’s Downing Centre.

“I’m at war with my own body and mind,” one of the victims, now in her 30s, told the court.

The woman told the court she becomes distressed interacting with her own loving husband, and when her own children appear to grasp sexual innuendo.

She still won’t let adult men take care of her children, she told the court, wiping away tears.

During emotional testimony the woman repeatedly broke down, reading her statement over videolink, describing the moment she realised her abuser was living near other members of her family.

“I thought the past was dead and buried but Sydney is a small place,” she told the court.

The staffer’s second victim told the court he had grown into a “maladaptive, impoverished” young man who had struggled with his sexuality, addiction and his career as a result of the abuse.

As an adolescent he subjected himself to further harm by meeting up with paedophiles he had met online and falling into abusive relationships with “toxic older men”.

“I feared children, and I feared people would think I’m a paedophile,” he told the court.

“I now know that is a common fear among male survivors.”

The young man spoke of his talents and successes, undermined by his own erratic behaviour throughout his adult life.

The former staffer sat silently, with a mask, as his victims detailed the impact he continues to have on their lives.

He watched without reaction as the survivors’ family members embraced in the public gallery.

The staffer’s lawyers told the court their client did not “direct” the abuse as an adult paedophile would because he was young.

But, they conceded, the damage was done.

“(The abuse) didn’t end because there was some detection or confrontation, it ceased at a point in time, the parties moved on … unfortunately that has had an ongoing impact on the victims and that’s accepted by the offender,” his barrister told the court.

They asked the court to spare him prison and instead hit him with community correction orders.

The prosecution agreed.

Courts give reductions in sentences for early guilty pleas and the Crown Prosecutors accepted the staffer was entitled to some measure of discount on some, but not all, of the four charges against him.

The staffer had pleaded not guilty and it was only at the eleventh hour before trial that he owned up to his crimes.

“(The abuse) occurred at the home of the victims where you’d expect them to feel safe,” the prosecutor told the court.

“The offender exploited and abused his position of trust, exploited his power over the victims, and exploited the fact they were vulnerable.”

The staffer, who no longer works in the government, will be sentenced in mid-July.