Child sex abuse case leaves emotional Ray Hadley struggling to speak

Normally combative radio host Ray Hadley struggled to speak on air on Wednesday as he revealed that a convicted paedophile has been jailed for just 20 months as punishment the historical sexual abuse of his stepdaughter that started when she was just five years old.

Speaking on his 2GB show on Wednesday, Hadley said he’d been contacted by the partner of the victim – who’s now an adult – after her now-83-year-old attacker was jailed. 

“I’m talking about the most horrific abuse of a child you could possibly imagine. I’ve got the victim impact statement in front of me, but I couldn’t share it with you, I just couldn’t, it would be inappropriate at this time of day to talk about what he did,” Hadley told his audience. “It would be easier for me to tell you what he didn’t do, because he did everything to this kid.”

Hadley said the abuse began in the mid-1980s and continued until the mid-1990s. According to her current partner, the woman involved repeatedly told authorities what was happening, but was either dismissed or told to come back with more evidence.

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Eventually in 2016 she approached the police again, and an officer in Queensland took her case on and it was finally heard at the Brisbane District Court last week.

It’s claimed the stepfather admitted to his crimes over tape to an unknown source, before pleading guilty in court. He was sentenced to five years in jail with the sentence to be suspended after just 20 months.

Hadley struggled to speak as he shared his fury over what he said was a lenient sentence, and claimed the prosecution had originally asked for a seven or eight year sentence, while the defence even requested six or seven years “at the bottom end”.

But according to Hadley, Judge Julie Dick cited the abuser’s age, his guilty plea and recorded confession for the shorter sentence. Starts at 60 is unable to independently verify this claim.

“How can you get a benefit for pleading guilty, when the only reason you pleaded guilty was because he couldn’t have beaten the rap? There was recorded evidence of his admission,” Hadley shouted on air. He also alleged that the perpetrator of the abuse had previously been jailed for offences against other young children.

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The victim’s partner told him this abuse had “destroyed the life of the victim and the family”. The partner also claimed that the woman was still estranged from her mother and siblings, who didn’t believe her when she told them of the abuse. 

Do you agree the sentence is too lenient?