Shadow of Doubt victim’s payout over sexual assault by coach

Victim ‘Emily’ sought over $1m in compensation over a separate allegation of sexual assault | LISTEN TO EPISODE 8

A young woman who accused her parents of terrible sexual torture, ‘Emily Johnson’ conducted another lawsuit in which she said her trauma was related to a separate attack. Illustration by Emilia Tortorella.

A young woman whose parents were jailed after she made allegations of sadistic torture and abuse also pursued a civil lawsuit in which she blamed her mental health problems on a separate sexual assault by a sporting coach.

The young woman sued the coach and the sporting organisation that employed him, saying they were responsible for her depression, flashbacks and extensive hospitalisations, following a sexual assault in a hotel room overseas.

Her statement of claim in the NSW District Court did not mention that she had earlier given police a 78-page statement alleging her father had raped and tortured her from the age of five to adulthood, assisted by her mother.

After her parents were convicted and jailed, the young woman continued to pursue the lawsuit, and expanded it to include a claim against the Queensland government.

A source with knowledge of the case said she sought more than a million dollars in compensation, before settling for a five-figure sum, 10 years after first pursuing it.

The Australian’s Shadow Of Doubt podcast has obtained documents that show the civil lawsuit against the coach and the criminal case against her parents ran concurrently.

The woman was 17 when she returned from an overseas sports competition and told her parents a coach had sexually assaulted her in her hotel room. The daughter subsequently underwent prolonged treatment in a psychiatric hospital, during which she attempted suicide on multiple occasions and recovered memories of extreme sexual abuse by her parents.

While police were investigating those allegations, the young woman filed a statement of claim seeking damages from the coach she accused of sexual assault, and the organisation that employed him. The lawsuit alleged she had woken in her hotel room to find the coach had removed her pants and underwear and was moving backwards and forwards on top of her. She alleged that because of this assault she had required lengthy periods in hospital, lost her sporting career and would require psychiatric care “perhaps for the rest of her life”.

The young woman’s psychiatrist provided a supporting letter stating the alleged hotel room assault had triggered her post-traumatic stress disorder and “dramatically changed her perspective on her entire life. She has spent months in hospital with numerous suicide attempts … She will need intensive therapy for many years to come”.

The same psychiatrist later wrote reports in the criminal proceedings that attributed the young woman’s PTSD to the extreme abuse she had reported at the hands of her parents. In a victim impact report for the court, the psychiatrist said the parents’ abuse had been devastating to her entire life and “therapy is recommended to continue for years to come”.

The NSW District Court declined to release any records from the civil compensation case because of its sensitive nature involving a minor. But published court records show that while her parents faced trial, their daughter expanded the lawsuit to include a claim against the Queensland government, which required proceedings to be transferred to the Queensland Supreme Court.

The parents were subsequently found guilty of 86 counts of abuse, and are serving lengthy jail terms. The Shadow Of Doubt podcast is investigating their claims their daughter’s allegations against them were based on false memories elicited during counselling.

Queensland court records show their daughter discontinued her lawsuit four years after her parents went to prison. A source close to the case said there had been an out-of-court settlement.

*The images used with this podcast investigation are for illustrative purposes only and bear no resemblance to the real people in this story, who cannot be identified for legal reasons.

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