Victorian government pays “Butch” highest ever non-court settlement for child sex abuse survivor

A Victorian man has been paid the highest ever non-court settlement for a child abuse survivor from the state government — after a traumatic three years fighting for justice.

A Victorian man, known only as pseudonym Butch, has been paid the highest non-court settlement for a child abuse survivor in history by the state government. Picture: Supplied

A Victorian man has been paid $2.71m in the highest ever non-court settlement for a child sex abuse survivor from the state government.

The man, who wants to be only known publicly as Butch, was sexually abused as a ten-year-old by a prisoner at Beechworth Prison in the early 1970s.

The landmark amount comes amid a rising number of multimillion-dollar settlements paid by governments, schools and churches in the aftermath of court rulings clearing the way for previous nominal payments to be superseded.

More than 300 schools and other organisations in Victoria are facing similar claim amounts from thousands of historic abuse victims.

Butch’s father worked at the prison and he was free to roam the grounds, where he came into contact with prisoner Robert Curtis who had prior convictions for indecent assault, obscene exposure and buggery.

Butch was digitally, orally and anally raped by Curtis on five separate occasions.

Curtis was sentenced in 1974 for the indecent assault of Butch and his friend, but the Victorian government denied the abuse took place for many years.

Butch, a pseudonym, sued the Victorian government for exemplary damages after he was abused by a prisoner at the old Beechworth prison in the 70s.

Butch’s advocate, Michael Advocate (a pseudonym) said the man, who received his money this week, had been battling the government for the past three years

“The state government, originally claiming to be a model litigant, forced Butch, the child rape victim, to go through the highly traumatic process of reliving the five rape nightmares in detail as an adult on multiple occasions, since 2021,” he said.

Three years after the claim was filed, the government offered the settlement just before the matter was due to go to trial on May 28.

Mr Advocate said the process, as well as the abuse, “had a hugely damaging impact” on Butch.

“Such deplorable, brutal behaviour from an obviously hypocritical state government is just totally unacceptable in 2024,” he said.

The government’s first offer in 2023 was $750,000.

In a statement in 2020, Butch described the impact of the abuse, which took place while he spent up to two hours a day alone with Curtis, who was his “best friend”.

“I was a happy-go-lucky child, about nine or ten years old, without a care in the world,” he said.

“Everything changed for Butch after Curtis trapped him in the back of a truck and raped him, which meant his “innocent world changed for ever”.

Kim Price, leader of Arnold Thomas & Becker’s abuse practice, said there had been “an increase in compensation amounts awarded to abuse survivors as a result of precedents set by former claims”.

The firm is representing over 430 former Victorian school students from 250 schools who have suffered historic abuse.

Michael Magazanik, partner at Rightside Legal, said there had been a number of other million-dollar payouts including a $3.4m settlement with Wesley College on the third day of a trial and a $3m trial win against the Catholic Church.

“Compensation in this area of the law has caught up to where it should be. The sums reflect that fact that sexual abuse can cause terrible lifelong damage,” he said.

Mr Advocate said the compensation will help Butch and his family rebuild their lives.

A Victorian Government spokeswoman said: “Our thoughts are with all victim-survivors of sexual violence. We acknowledge the profound impacts of sexual violence and the retraumatising effect for victims in seeking justice.”