Adult accounts of organised child sexual abuse in Australia Mich

1. Adult accounts of organised child sexual abuse in AustraliaMichael SalterPhD candidateFaculty of LawFaculty of Medicine

3. Terminology Organised abuse refers to any instance in which multiple adults act in a coordinated or premeditated way to sexually abusive multiple children. Abusive ordeals are incidents of organised sexual abuse. Perpetrator groups are groups that engage in organised abuse. Primary abuser refers to the individual who is primarily responsible for procuring the child, and trafficking the child to and from abusive ordeals. The primary abuser is responsible for �managing� the child outside organised contexts. Procuring refers to the process by which a primary abuser identifies, grooms and inducts a child into organised abuse. Trafficking refers to the transport of a child to an abusive ordeal.

4. What are the ways in which the sexual abuse of children can be coordinated or organised by multiple abusers? Parents, relatives and family friends Priests and nuns at church or school Staff and visitors to residential care One participant described being procured by a stranger in the community Two participants provided second-hand accounts of corrupt Elders procuring children for abuse from Indigenous communities

5. Interview data not included in the presentation �Ad hoc� abuse A teenage brother who encouraged his friends to abuse his young sister A stepmother who abused her stepchildren, and encouraged her son to do so Abuse by multiple perpetrators who do not know one another Non-contact offences Forced to strip for staff in a residential institution Father and family friends expose themselves to the child

6. What happens to victimised children in organised contexts? Participants reported a common range of sexually abusive acts, including: Group sexual assault (oral, vaginal and anal rape) Sadistic and fetishistic acts (incorporating bondage, urine, faeces) Forcing a child into sexual contact with other children The manufacture of child pornography Child prostitution Ritualistic abuse/torture

7. Crimes reported by participants were rarely limited to child sex abuse. Participants commonly reported: The intensive inhibition of disclosure through drugging, death threats and torture (electro-shock, near-drowning) The sexual assault and torture of women Reproductive harms (pregnancy through rape, non-consensual abortions) The murder of children and adults

8. The hierarchy of victimisation A child�s status in the group is determined by: How they were procured for organised abuse The identity of the child�s primary abuser These variables determine: The range and extremity of acts that may be inflicted on the child The frequency of incidents of organised abuse The period of sexual exploitation

9. 1st tier: Children groomed to become adult abusers Usually the female child of adult perpetrators Sexual abuse, physical abuse and neglect normative in the family home Early onset of organised abuse in childhood (infancy, early childhood) Frequent incidences of organised sexual abuse (at least weekly) Abuse often had ritualistic features, and structured by the pretence of status (�queen�, �priestess�, �princess�) Abuse may continue into adulthood, and the captive adult may provide their children for abuse.

10. Ritual abuse and the pretence of status � They were getting me to be, some kind of �high priestess� and all this kind of stuff. They tortured me, and conditioned me, and then I end up being used. Yes, it's a position of power over men and boys, but I�m used to recruit the young boys through ... through sex. Then, of course, it's pretty horrible because I'm being tortured, but I end up, I really want to be involved. � They do it from torturing you first, they give you a position of power after they have conditioned you to be what they want you to be. Basically, so you've got really nowhere else to go. (Joanne) And I was always told that, that I was in training to be a high priestess. But I also know of a few other ritual abuse survivors who say the same thing, so I�m never sure if that�s a line that is used regularly and it�s just a lie. (Lilly)

11. 2nd tier: Children abused without the pretence of status Often male, procured extra-familially, or trafficked into organised abuse by parents for money/drugs Later onset of organised abuse (later childhood, early teens) Similar diversity and severity of abusive practices as first tier No compensatory promises of future role/status Sometimes trafficked opportunistically between multiple perpetrator groups More frequent reports of commercial abuse (pornography, prostitution) Abuse frequently ceases in early-to-mid teens

12. 3rd tier: Children at risk of death or severe injury Children without any protective safeguards (e.g. parent, caregiver, no legal status) Children born to teenage/adult victims �Runaways�, Indigenous children or other vulnerable groups

13. What are the risk factors for organised abuse? Invaliding environment at home, school and in the community Now, I spent a lot of my time absolutely black and blue from these people [the abusers]. They�d butt out their cigarettes on me, they�d use me as an ashtray, they�d piss on me, they�d shit on me, they�d belt the fuck out of me, kick me around the room if I didn�t do something properly. But nobody in my family noticed it. Nobody noticed my distress on that first occasion. Nor any other time. It was just put down to me being a clumsy kid. (Neil)

14. Compounding social factors Limited alternatives for abused women and children State intervention in abuse infrequent and harmful Law enforcement in child abuse ineffective Symptoms of trauma and distress frequently misinterpreted as evidence of intellectual or moral weakness

15. Case history: Renee 42, on disability support following a recent hospitalisation, cared for by her partner. Multiple physical health concerns, particularly arthritis and bone spurs. Mental health concerns include bipolar depression, insomnia, nightmares, suicide attempts, chronic psychosomatic pain, and episodic paranoia. History of harmful mental health treatment, including incorrect diagnosis, inappropriate medication and re-victimising hospitalisation.  Currently seeing a sexual assault counsellor and psychiatrist, and feeling comfortable with them.

16. The context to Renee�s organised abuse Renee�s stepfather, Mark, was sexually abusive and physically abusive. Renee�s mother was a victim of domestic violence who drank and used drugs heavily. Mark has previously been involved in the commercial production of pornography, and had a relationship with the owners of a nearby photographic studio that abutted a brothel. Renee�s mother sometimes posed topless at the studio for money. Renee and her sister played in the streets after school with the other �latch key kids�. They are approached one day by the owners of the studio, Amy and Frank.

17. Renee�s transition into organised abuse So they basically befriended us and started saying things like, �How pretty you are!� and that they took photos of pretty children and, y�know, like, you are this chosen, special one. It sort of went from talking outside, from opening the studio doors up, and there were photos of children on the walls � And that�s how it started, with, just, �take pretty pictures�. And, look, I can�t remember the exact step from being in the studio to, one day, lying on this mattress with another kid just in our underwear on, and simulating sex. But we had been shown, by Frank and Amy, and we were being filmed. � It was always � we were always told it was love. Our games after school were called S and L, which was "sex and love�.

18. The emotional dynamics of exploitation Renee: Like, it may sound really bizarre but I looked forward to going to see them. [cries] And I really, I guess, felt loved in some way that I wasn�t getting from home. Michael: What was it about Amy and Frank? What had they done to make you feel � R: Because they told me how beautiful I was. And how pretty. And, y�know, not �many children are like that, and you are�. Really played on that. And �we want to be your friend�.

19. The abuse escalates Adults begin to participate in the sexually abusive activity in the studio The children are threatened with death if they disclose the abuse Drugs and sedatives are used to disorientate the children Abusive practices begin to diversify and intensify, incorporating new �games�, costumes, scenarios, and sadistic acts The children are tortured for disobedience, using techniques that don�t leave a mark The children are instructed to recruit other children for sexual abuse

20. New sites of organised abuse emerge Um, then it went to going to, what I now know, was the brothel owner�s house. And other children and � [crying] being given these lollies [drugs] again. And, like, a game, but there were lots of older men there. And it was almost like a, like a �pick the child� thing. � And � like every time, this would happen � we would go to sleep, and come out of it and getting told that you�d had this terrible dream, �you poor thing�. And you knew deep down, that, nope, something terrible had happened.

21. Questions without answers Police corruption or perpetrator �games�? The police came to my house once. As I said, we were latch key kids, and I was home from school one day, and the police knocked on my door. And there was a man and a lady. I can�t remember word for word but it was basically, �We�ve been told to come and see you because you�ve been telling stories.� Now. I truly don�t � believe they were real police. They may have been, I don�t know, but they took me for a walk up the street and back home and that was it.

22. Questions without answers What else did Renee witness? Everyone has there own memories, and they are their memories, and it�s their reality � but I had memories of, y�know, blood. And having to clean up blood. But I know it wasn�t. Like � when I was a child, I believed it was blood. But I know now it wasn�t. Tomato sauce or something.

23. Parental complicity � Mark was a part of what was going on. How much a part, I don�t know. I have a memory of him being at one of the �parties�. I have another very vivid memory of his red truck, of him backing up into the driveway of this studio, Frank opening the big doors � I have a very vivid memory of money exchanging hands. � Mum was inducted, so to speak. She did a bit of, um, ah, �modelling� work at the time as well, in which she just had, like, cossie bottoms on � I�m sure it was for the people in the studio, the same place. She went there, y�know. She knew I went there.

24. Stigmatisation by her local communityand revictimisation In school, I was, y�know ,the one that everyone�s parents would say, �Don�t hang around with that Renee, y�know, she�s bad news�. So I always had this, y�know, I was a bad kid, and always in trouble. My deputy head principal at high school, I have never actually said the words, [cries] but he was into abusing girls. And, y�know, we all wore uniforms up to here, and I�ve got memories of him, cos I was always getting sent to him � saying �Step back a bit, step back a bit�, so that he could see.

25. And I remember him telling me to pull my dress higher, and going around the side of his desk and he is having a wank. And him saying something like, �I know people who know you.� It was well known. There was a group of us that were just dead shits at the school, and we knew it was going to happen when we got called to his office.

26. Points to consider Renee was vulnerable to organised abuse because her basic needs weren�t being met at home The perpetrators were the only attachment figures in Renee�s life, forging strong emotional bonds through promises of love and threats of harm. Renee�s capacity to remember her abuse has been deliberately interfered with through drugs and torture. Renee will probably never know everything that happened to her.

27. The organised abuse was able to continue because Renee was stigmatised by her school and local community This stigmatisation placed her at risk of revictimisation and limited her opportunities to find help. Renee continues to live with a high level of chronic disability associated with her history of abuse, although she has been seeking mental health treatment for 17 years.