Victims of Bunbury paedophile speak out

After more than two decades, Black’s dirty secrets were finally made public.

Now, two of his victims are speaking out in a bid to help others who may be hiding past sexual abuse, and to provide a warning to parents of young children vulnerable to those why prey on their innocence.

April 24 will forever be marked as the day Black’s victims saw justice served as they watched their abuser led from the dock to the cells where he will spend at least the next five and a half years.

Black, who was convicted of 15 counts of child sex charges involving seven girls, showed no emotion during sentencing.

For his victims, the day in court represented vindication, and it was indeed emotional.

Black’s offences, which included indecent dealings with girls aged between seven and 13, happened between 1983 and 1993 in Bunbury and Dunsborough.

Were it not for the collective bravery of his victims – now grown women who will remain anonymous – his offences could have gone to the grave with him.

They very nearly did.

One victim, Black’s first, struck a deal with her abuser years after she had left Bunbury.

Confronting him, she told the paedophile if she ever found out he’d abused other girls she would go straight to the police.

It was almost a year to this day the woman received the phone call that changed everything; the call that meant the deal was off.

There were other victims; seven, in fact. Together, they went to the police.

“I didn’t know other girls had been abused,” Black’s first victim said.

“Suddenly it wasn’t just me; there was power in numbers.”

Another of Black’s victims, the one who made initial contact with women she suspected had been through the same ordeal at the hands of the same man, said the way the case unfolded was “horrific”.

“Every phone call led to another victim,” she said.

“Finally there were seven of us.

“No one escaped unscathed; no one comes out of something like that unaffected.”

One by one the women gave statements to detectives.

A case was built, and by September 2016 Black had been charged and had pleaded guilty.

“We had to be really specific about the incidents we remembered,” the women said.

“He only got convicted of offences for which we could specifically pinpoint the date and location.\

“There would have been hundreds of other offences he wasn’t charged with.”

Black’s guilty plea meant his victims were spared the trauma of going to trial and having to provide evidence.

Historic child sex abuse cases are notoriously difficult to prosecute.

Diaries kept by one victim helped, as did a letter of apology Black sent to the same woman.

“I had the evidence,” the woman said.

“For years people had been telling me, ‘for God’s sake – go to the police’.

“We finally did.”

The women said a variety of reasons led to them finally making statements about the abuse they had suffered, but for one, it was having children of her own that tipped the balance.

“Having children set something off in my brain,” the mother said.

“I was like, how could he have done that to us? I was having nightmares of him doing something to my daughter.

“I knew I had to do something.”

Since coming forward the women say they have copped some flak from people curious as to why it took so long for them to say anything to the police.

While they don’t appreciate the questions or the gossip, they understand how some may not be aware of what it took for them to come forward at all.

What they will never understand, and what still makes them rage, is the fact that there were people who knew what was going on and did nothing.

“How did no one know?” they said.

“The fact is there were some people who were fully aware of what was going on.

“They should be prosecuted, too.

“The only anger we have left is towards them. 

“How did they go to sleep every night?”

In terms of the sentence, the women said while justice could never truly be done, they were satisfied Black would be locked up for years.

“I think it was a good outcome,” one of the women said.

“We didn’t have to go to trial.

“I’m old enough and mature enough to see the positives. 

“Not a lot of people get this closure. I’m so glad we did this before he died – we’d never have got the chance to ever make good on it.”

One hope both women shared was that parents reading their story would teach their children about protective behaviours, and that anyone who had suffered similarly would come forward.

“People need to start naming these people,” they said.

“How many kids could you save? 

“We also want people to be proactive about protecting their children.

“We were warned about strangers – never about people we know.”

“Teach kids not to keep secrets. Teach them what’s appropriate touching  and what’s not.”

The women suggested parents seek information and support from protectivebehaviourswa.org.au.

“All  of this didn’t happen for no reason,” Black’s first victim said.

“For the first time what I’m doing isn’t about survival. All of a sudden it’s my turn. 

“I get to live my life now. 

“I do matter.”