Disclaimer: The above image does not represent any of the officers mentioned in this story.
Explosive allegations are emerging regarding high level collusion of NSW police detectives and DCJ child protection officers to protect two alleged paedophiles.
A witness has come forward this week stating that a police detective based in Wollongong linked with the Joint Child Protection Response Program (JCPRP) pressured her into making a false statement in order to put an innocent man behind bars.
In a signed admission this week, the woman said that one of the perpetrators had paid her $5000 to remain silent and that she knew that the man who was arrested in December 2020, was innocent.
She claims she told this to the interviewing detective whom she says called her a liar. She said the detective stated that the men whom she alleged to be perpetrators were “not child sex predators” and that it was all in her head. This is despite a complaint being raised in 2019 against one of the men for historical child sexual abuse.
The witness at the centre of these allegations also says that the actions of several Wollongong detectives caused the involvement of DCJ child protection officers who removed his five step-children from his wife following his arrest, without justification.
“He [the accused] was always respectful, caring towards me and he loved [his step-daughters] and took good care with them. When I told [the detective] this he called me a liar and said that [the accused] was a nasty horrible dangerous man and he was going to make sure that [the accused] remained behind bars and that he didn’t need proof or evidence in regards to [the accused] as DCJ had said enough about him to make [his step-daughter] say that he sexually assaulted her. I said ‘you can’t do that’. He said ‘yes, I can do what I like’.
[He] had said that he had no intentions of returning [the accused’s] phone and that he and his wife can suffer the outcome of all what’s happened. This made me cry as I felt for my daughter and her husband and her children that were falsely removed due to the detective’s lies and orchestrated events.
The statement [he] did with me I asked to not have to go ahead with it, as what he has put in the statement is fabricated by [him]. He had put me under so much pressure and intimidated me that I was having heart palpitations and could hardly breathe due to his bullying way and stand-over merchant ways he used on me”.
Through a complex orchestration of what the mother claims are unnecessary violence restraining orders made by Wollongong detectives she says that her family has been purposely targeted and kept separated for about 5 months, by detectives and child protection officers.
She said she was pressured to leave her husband by child protection workers in the Lakemba office, and that if she didn’t she would not see her children again. The mother refused to and she states this resulted in all contact being cut with her children.
A recording made voluntarily by one of the men at the centre of the allegations, in February 2021, discloses that he takes responsibility for sexually assaulting the couple’s 12 year old daughter and that the innocent man was set up and charged with the offences.
In the recording the man states his name and that he admits to being the perpetrator of three sexual assaults on the 12 year old girl. The same admission has also been made to others and the recordings handed to police, but police have failed to act on the information provided.
The witness claims that the girl was also pressured by detectives and child protection officers to state that the perpetrator was her step-father and says that the girl did not want to say this in her statement.
“[She] disclosed to me she didn’t want to say this about her step-father but [case workers] at DCJ Lakemba and detectives all pressured her to make these allegations by saying her step-father was a bad father and that both he and her mother hurt her and the other kids when this isn’t the case. Both parents have always taken great care of the children. She told me that [the first perpetrator] told her this was set up because none of the DCJ workers liked [the accused]”.
The man accused of child sexual assault and who is currently on remand has stated his innocence and is pleading not guilty to charges. From behind bars he has asked “why am I here”?
A five year AVO taken by the mother in 2020 against one of the perpetrators has also been discovered to no longer remain in place, presumed to have been removed by detectives.
Complaints by the mother to the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission (LECC) were rejected as warranting “no further action” in February 2021.
DCJ case workers have stated they are aware of allegations made against one of the alleged perpetrators but have placed two of the mother’s children with him, saying they are monitoring the situation.
This is not the first time that JCPRP detectives and DCJ child protection officers have been alleged to fabricate evidence. A number of cases known to advocates, where weak and potentially fabricated evidence by authorities has been made, have been dismissed by the courts in recent years.
Have you had a similar experience with police and DCJ and have evidence to support your claims? If so, I would like to hear from you.