By Erin Pearson
WARNING: DISTRESSING CONTENT
A member of a fundamentalist Geelong church will spend nearly two decades in prison for repeatedly sexually abusing young boys at his home and in public places, such as the local swimming pool, over several years.
Todd Hubers van Assenraad, 38, was a well-known member of the Geelong Revival Centre when, in 2016, he began abusing nine children aged six to 12, largely during sleepovers and in a specially designed loft above his garage.
County Court judge Gerard Mullaly said the abuse had escalated in 2020.
“You gave the impression that you were someone focused on bringing fun to children. In truth, it was to allow you unrestrained and undetected opportunities to sexually abuse them,” he said.
“All you did was … bring enduring pain and sadness to the children.
“The measure of the decency and morality of a society is what is done to protect the most vulnerable. Your conduct was an attack on the social values that we all hold dear.”
Hubers van Assenraad, of East Geelong, had pleaded guilty to 16 charges relating to the abuse of children in his care, including possessing child abuse material.
The abuse charges include instances of touching the children’s genitalia, penetrating the victims and encouraging the children to touch each other as part of what he told his victims was a secret “boys club”.
Mullaly said the abuser knew some of his victims’ families through the church of which he and his family, including his wife, were part.
Mullaly said the first charge related to an eight-year-old boy who had been staying at Hubers van Assenraad’s family home. The child told police the pair were playing card games when the 38-year-old pulled the child’s pants down.
“Shocked and distressed, he ... ran to the kitchen and grabbed a sharp knife, which he held towards you. The noise caused your wife to wake,” the judge said.
“Unfortunately, your wife believed your lies, not the child.”
Years later, Hubers van Assenraad went on to abuse eight more boys, showing them child abuse material on his phone to “copy” before fondling them as they watched films, and later raping some of them.
Others were abused after church camping trips or while they played video games at Hubers van Assenraad’s house.
“Your offending came to light when [a] sister overheard her brother speaking of being shown pictures of naked people by you. This sister, with admirable maturity, told her father,” the judge said.
“The victim revealed to his father what you had done, and after hearing what his son had outlined, the victim’s father did not call the police but rather rang and spoke to the then-head or pastor of the church, a Mr Noel Hollins, and informed him what the victim had said.
“Mr Hollins also did not contact the police that night or the next day. Rather, Mr Hollins called you and … asked you to come and see him.”
This masthead has previously reported allegations of abuse and coercion at the Geelong Revival Centre, including that Hollins had forced a member to marry her alleged rapist.
Mullaly said that in the days after this call, Hubers van Assenraad had sought to minimise his conduct, contacting parents of some of the children to tell them he feared he could be kicked out of the church.
“Concerningly, you told the mother of these two victims, a single mother, that if she got the police involved, that may mean she would lose her children and not be able to keep them,” Mullaly said.
Police were contacted on January 25.
When police searched his home, they found 1600 child abuse images and videos on a secret laptop. Hubers van Assenraad, an IT specialist, erased much of the material but told police there had been 10 terabytes.
Hubers van Assenraad told police he had a problem with child abuse material for about 25 years, which he described as being “way better than regular pornography”.
In victim impact statements read to the court, Mullaly said the families spoke of the devastating impacts the crimes had had on their boys.
“He was a gentle, sensitive boy, who loved to draw, ride his bike and surf. Now he is mostly sad and finds human interaction stressful and often does not sleep. She said he stopped sleeping for over a year because he was so ashamed and frightened,” Mullaly quoted one victim’s family as saying.
“The road ahead is a long one. He feels shame and sadness that overwhelms him. He talks often about how he ‘used to be happy’.”
Mullaly noted Hubers van Assenraad had been raised in a loving home. His family were all members of the Geelong Revival Centre, where Mullaly said the pastor seemed to be a dominant leader, “evidenced by the fact that parents reported your crimes to him before the police”.
He said Hubers van Assenraad had told a psychiatrist that he once attempted to contact a Swedish group on the dark web who said they could help those with sexual attractions to children but never went through with it.
“The sexual offending of children is abhorrent. My condemnation of what you did and harm you caused must be more than the words expressed here. It must also be ... years of imprisonment,” Mullalay said.
Hubers van Assenraad was sentenced to 22 years and 10 months’ jail, with a non-parole period of 16 years and six months.
Once released, he will be classified as a serious sexual offender and placed on the sex offender register for life.
National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service: 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732).
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