Model's career "took a blow" after alleged sexual advances at popular wedding venue

She is pursuing her case in the civil courts after feeling she was let down by the criminal justice system.

Jana Kruger. Picture: Supplied

She is pursuing her case in the civil courts after feeling she was let down by the criminal justice system.

A model is seeking damages in the civil court after her stepfather, the owner of a popular Sunshine Coast wedding venue, was found not guilty of sexually assaulting her in a criminal court.

Jana Kruger, 27, is pursuing her case after she feels she was let down by the criminal justice system, filing a statement of claim in the Federal Circuit Court detailing her inability to work, mental health conditions, and humiliation suffered from an incident in January 2019.

"My successful career in modelling took a blow," Kruger told The Oz.

She is alleging in a statement of claim Alan Thompson, her then-stepfather and the director of Flaxton Gardens, where she was a contract worker for the family business, sexually harassed her at the venue. She is also claiming under the Sexual Discrimination Act she was discriminated against based on her sex and is suing Flaxton Gardens.

Jana Kruger. Picture: Supplied

Kruger previously reported the incident to police, and Thompson, 52, was acquitted of two counts of rape in the Maroochydore District Court in November 2021. He continues to deny the allegations.

"That Jana has been through criminal proceedings, which are often lengthy and inherently traumatic, lost family in the process, and is still fighting for justice speaks to her incredible strength. We’re very proud to be representing such a strong woman," her lawyer Mackenzie Wakefield of Maurice Blackburn lawyers, said.

"For some women, their experience of sexual harassment can give rise to both criminal and civil causes of action, but those claims are very different.

"The standard of proof in a civil claim, which is the balance of probabilities, can mean that complainants are able to secure something resembling justice through a civil claim even if they couldn’t through the criminal process," she said.

Thompson, who married Kruger's mother in 2017, opened restaurant 755 in London in the 90s “often frequented by English Society and Royalty” before taking over the Queensland wedding venue.

Alan Stanley Thompson. Picture: Tracey Beard

In documents filed with the Human Rights division of the federal court, Kruger claims she planned to sleep at Flaxton Gardens following a networking event where she was working as a photographer. She took her regular medication that helped her get to sleep due to childhood sexual abuse - both facts Thompson knew.

As Kruger sat on the top of the stairs, Thompson professed his love to her, saying things like “I wish things turned out differently and I could be with you” and that he wanted her “on the side”, she says in the documents. It is alleged he then kissed her and led her to a room called “the bridal suite”.

He allegedly sat her on the edge of the bed, saying "I want to go further with this”, to which she said, “I just want to go to sleep.” He locked the door and allegedly kissed her again. “I don't want to do this”, she said, before he allegedly undressed her, and engaged in oral sex and sexual intercourse with her.

A few days later, he told her "I obviously had to play the ‘I don’t remember’ card” when she told her mother.

Kruger claims to The Oz her life was fundamentally changed by the alleged incident as well as her relationships with her husband and son.

Birdseye view of Flaxton Gardens. Picture: Facebook

Although Kruger is still signed on with IMG and Que Models, she said the alleged events had "taken me off the modelling radar" and she eventually "up-ended her life" by moving to Tasmania.

“Not only was it my employment, it was a family business, I was a part of that family, its business was my business … (It was) a place whose success you feel obligated to ensure. This left me feeling completely powerless and vulnerable," she told The Oz.

Australian cricketer Matthew Renshaw and Josie Harvey wed at Flaxton Gardens on the Sunshine Coast. Picture: Ted & Li Photography

Wakefield said as a close family member, Thompson "took advantage of the significant power imbalance and used that to hurt her".

Thompson’s lawyer Michael McMillan said there was no fresh evidence or new witnesses “so it’ll be a re-run of what happened in the first instance” with the criminal proceedings.

The first federal court date for this matter is January 31, 2023.