Abuse scandal


Thought it would be best to move this topic out of the other thread.
So far, here's the timeline of media stories surrounding the recent news.

March 15, 2010 - Woman's Day: Sarah Monahan speaks of sexual abuse on the set of Hey Dad
http://womansday.ninemsn.com.au/celebrityheadlines/1026162/hey-dad-sex -scandal

March 17, 2010 - A Current Affair interviews Julie McGregor & Chris Truswell
http://video.au.msn.com/watch/video/hey-dad-grope-claims/x6snrn7

March 18, 2010 - Other cast & crew stories, Gary Reilly comments
http://video.au.msn.com/watch/video/hey-dad-scandal-update/xsavh4x

March 19, 2010 - Christopher Mayer speaks with Today Tonight
http://www.tvtonight.com.au/2010/03/another-hey-dad-actor-speaks-out

March 19, 2010 - Gary Reilly interview
http://video.au.msn.com/watch/video/hey-dad-creator-speaks-about-haras sment-claims/xvnkoml

March 22, 2010 - Sarah Monahan interview
http://video.au.msn.com/watch/video/hey-dad-s-sara-monahan-exclusive/x afig2x

March 24, 2010 - Alleged abuser revealed
http://video.au.msn.com/watch/video/hey-dad-alleged-abuser-revealed/x9 g2m6f

March 24, 2010 - Ben Oxenbould interview
http://video.au.msn.com/watch/video/a-current-affair-hey-dad-sex-alleg ations-part-1/xcw1q1c (Part 1)
http://video.au.msn.com/watch/video/a-current-affair-hey-dad-sex-alleg ations-part-2/xwbf3u3 (Part 2)

March 25, 2010 - Police press conference
http://video.au.msn.com/watch/video/9raw-hey-dad-police-press-conferen ce/x7r2j7n

March 25, 2010 - Simone Buchanan & Sarah Monahan interview
http://video.au.msn.com/watch/video/more-hey-dad-stars-break-their-sil ence/xui8kmg

March 25, 2010 - Interview with Hey Dad sound technician's daughters
http://video.au.msn.com/watch/video/hey-dad-investigation-continues/x2 k5fnu

There are heaps more articles out there, but they basically rehash the same story from these links.

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[deleted]

I'm sure everyone is thinking Robert Hughes is the guilty party.

But it always amazes me when victims spill their guts to A Current Affair instead of to police.

It seems opportunistic.



"It's just a movie" is no excuse for treating us like idiots!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwRqc0KSkJ0

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didnt Sarah say she is still scared of this person today and thast why she wont come back to Australia?? then what the hell is Robert Hughes doing thease days? wouldnt he have to be a big name like she said to be still scared of him?

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[deleted]

She said she was 'always sitting in the person's lap' (paraphrasing). I can't imagine how else this scenario might come up except for her on-screen father. If it was ANYONE else not directly related, something would have been done about it at the time, unless the person was a direct relative.

Personally, I make no accusations or assumptions, I was just kind of reporting what most people's - including, I must admit, my own - first instincts seem to be about it.

For all I know it may never have happened at all. But I will continue to search for updates out of sheer curiousity.



"It's just a movie" is no excuse for treating us like idiots!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwRqc0KSkJ0

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[deleted]

Think of it more as a 'first instinct'.



"It's just a movie" is no excuse for treating us like idiots!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwRqc0KSkJ0

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[deleted]

well we have heard from most of the actors so far, nothing from Robert Hughes yet isnt that interesting? I mean it makes us wonder if hes still alive

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Robert Hughes lives in Singapore now.

Heather O'Rourke,Judith Barsi,Dominique Dunne,Sharon Tate,Paul Richard

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and ACA say they will name the person tomorrow... so we will find out tomororw for sure

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Well they've just said it is Robert Hughes. They have tracked him down in Singapore and tried to interview him and he said it's in the hands of "defamation lawyers". They interviewed another cast member who confirmed what went on.

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On A Current Affair they just named Robert Hughes as the accused.

"I don't know if there is anything wrong because I don't know how other people are"

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In which case the culprit should not be hard to find. It was the person whose lap she was always sitting on for absolutely no logical reason.



"It's just a movie" is no excuse for treating us like idiots!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwRqc0KSkJ0

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[deleted]

what I want to know is why it took so long for her to come forward.

She is not a child any more, she is an adult. I don't give a fvck about how hard it can be for a victim to open up about these things, there is a sexual predator on the loose and she has a responsibility to help bring him to justice before he can harm other children. If she's procrastinating on this issue to save her career or her own personal feelings then I have no sympathy for her.

if I am unaware of other contributing factors please let me know.


- Opinion is the medium between knowledge and ignorance.

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i think Tracey stumbled on the Rachael Beck question now and she got a whisper in the background not to ask it.. they never got back to the question

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[deleted]


i think that what she may have meant by that is his friends and his wife is an a powerful agent.

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[deleted]

I don't blame her for taking so long to speak out about this. Sometimes it does take a long time for a sexual abuse victim to have the confidence and right frame of mind to speak out. When a person has been abused they lose a lot of self confidence and they often blame themselves. I mean just look at the reaction she's getting from you. Don't you think that's a rather harsh attitude to have towards a young woman who has been sexually abused as a child? Also, other people are saying she is lying or imagining things. Too often people blame the abused rather than the abuser.


I'm not being snide, and I'm sorry to respond to you twice in a few minutes.

What I don't understand, is yes, it takes time, with the mentality of the victim and so on, but when the time comes to open up and speak about it, why go running to a gossip magazine and a television show renowned for questionable journalism?

Surely the first port of call would be to go to the police.


"It's just a movie" is no excuse for treating us like idiots!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwRqc0KSkJ0

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[deleted]

I'm glad that things have finally escalated to a point where the police have now been involved so that a proper investigation can be conducted, and not by the media, or people on an internet message board.


Agreed 100%

Also, I think that by going to a tabloid show and gossip magazine will also serve to compromise any criminal triel that may arise, and even puts doubt behind the motivations of the victim. I am fairly sure at least one of these sources would be paying handsomely for the story.



"It's just a movie" is no excuse for treating us like idiots!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwRqc0KSkJ0

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except that I'm not judging her for anything other than how long it took for her to come out. She knew that there was a sexual predator with the opportunity to abuse more children and she did nothing to get him off the streets. why do you care WHO the person with power in the television industry is? she shouldn't care about her career. a paedophile on the loose is a little more important than whether or not she can continue to do guest spots on neighbours. selfish bitch.


- Opinion is the medium between knowledge and ignorance.

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[deleted]


so because someones a victim they're immediately spared of all criticism?

did you know when Hitler was young he was humiliated by being rejected to art school? seems like a really nice guy now, right?

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[deleted]

no YOU shut up.

see? i can be immature too =]

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Obviously you have never been molested!

Or maybe you agree with Robert Hughes' actions. Why else would you defend them?

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[deleted]

[deleted]

But I think if she went to the police, they would have said: ''ok, he tickled you, he got changed in front of you.....Its inappropriate, but we are sorry, no case''


This is what I don't get, what did he do exactly? I mean Nudge is touching her arse in the title credits but no-one is calling him a pedo. Hopefully the latest victims dragged out on ACA will have some substantial allegations.

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IT wasn't even the actor who played Nudge, it was Ben Oxenbould who played Ben. Nudge was Chris Truswell.

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Heard the latest???



"It's just a movie" is no excuse for treating us like idiots!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwRqc0KSkJ0

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[deleted]

Understood. This is what I was trying to point out with my previous posts. I was not casting accusations or allegations, but simply giving my first impression on the matter. Sometimes the simples and most obvious answer is the correct one.

Also, I had no idea about the 'wife' angle. It does seem strange that she would be representing Austalian actors while working out of Singapore. Seems like an unusual base of operations.




"It's just a movie" is no excuse for treating us like idiots!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwRqc0KSkJ0

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[deleted]

[deleted]

Well it's gone a bit further than "just allegations" now as of ACA tonight.

The cast photo that was shown is quite blatant and the police now say they ARE going to investigate.

More people are coming forward including the children of people (outside of his work) in his private life who were touched by him in their homes while he attended parties and dinners there.

Co-star Simone Buchanan and Sarah were off to the police to make an official statement after ACA tonight.

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On this morning’s radio (popular Melbourne broadcaster), they suggested that there was another name that was allegedly in the same situation as Sarah. They said that if that person raised their hand, there would be international attention bought to this case.
Looking at the full cast list, there is someone with an international profile who appeared briefly on the show, and was around the same age as Simone.

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I hope Monahan realises that there are more people on her side with this than against her. After her ACA stint the other day I said to my folks: "I bet it's the dad" because he left the year after she did. That, and he's always creeped me out. Now I finally know why. I feel sorry for Monahan's situation at the time. Even if I was the bread winner though if that had happened to me I would have told my mum and she would have beat the *beep* out of Hughes, castrated him, and would have sued the crap out of the show and gotten away with it.

CDEGFEDCC. (Shhh!)

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On this morning’s radio (popular Melbourne broadcaster), they suggested that there was another name that was allegedly in the same situation as Sarah. They said that if that person raised their hand, there would be international attention bought to this case.
Looking at the full cast list, there is someone with an international profile who appeared briefly on the show, and was around the same age as Simone.
It’s obvious.

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[deleted]

You know who it is, right?

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[deleted]

True, but I doubt she puts her hand up even if something did happen. As crazy as it sounds, I bet she doesn’t want to be dragged into this mess because it’s beneath her now. If this is the case, I hope she rots.

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[deleted]

Well it's gone a bit further than "just allegations" now as of ACA tonight.

The cast photo that was shown is quite blatant and the police now say they ARE going to investigate.

More people are coming forward including the children of people (outside of his work) in his private life who were touched by him in their homes while he attended parties and dinners there.

Co-star Simone Buchanan and Sarah were off to the police to make an official statement after ACA tonight.

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hmmmmm i'm sorry, did she just magically jump From adolescence to the age of 32 overnight?? she's been an adult for over a decade!! yeah well she did a great fvcking job of putting it to the back of her mind. so great that she seemed to forget that there's still a paedophile on the loose.

If not for fear of hurting her non-existent acting career, why didn't she come forward? She said herself one of the reasons she didn't say anything was because he had influence over the television industry.

yeah, funny how it took 20 years to deal with this, yet when she finally managed she had no problem going to the media and not handling it privately.

oh, I wasn't aware you'd read my autobiography. no, I've never been abused, but I have been in a situation where I've had to put my own personal issues aside in order to do what is right.

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[deleted]

in other words "i can't logically rebut your arguments so i'm gonna use the 'you just don't understand defense' and terminate the conversation"

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[deleted]

except you haven't been doing that. all i'm seeing is "it's hard for a victim of abuse to come forward" and "you don't understand". i see no explanation as to why her feelings and image are more important than the protection of future possible victims.

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[deleted]

"didn't read what i said" - the biggest cop-out argument after "you don't understand", which, believe it or not you also said! Double points for the double cop-out!! =]

alright, I'll humour you. hopefully you can do me the favour of "repeating yourself" one more time.

I get it. it's hard for a victim of abuse to deal with what's happened and come out. explain to me...

why are her feelings and image more important than the protection of future possible victims?


Also, while you're at it, do you mind giving me a possible explanation as to why a victim of abuse who has trouble even talking about what happened to them, all of a sudden after 20 years has no problem going on national TV to discuss it with the devil herself, Tracy Grimshaw? did she finally accept that her career is dead or did she start seeing the world's greatest psychiatrist?

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Champ, if people sit idly by while this happens to you as a child, I bet your priority won’t be to protect others in the future. She would be utterly confused by it all. She would feel helpless. Those around her had obviously failed her.

What is the problem with claiming a bit of treasure while destroying a monster? I don’t understand your problem. She royally screwed this scumbag because he thought he was home and hosed. His family would certainly be having doubts about him. It’s a beautiful thing.

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actually, it would be my priority, since I'd be aware that these kids aren't getting any help.

Nothing, that's not what i said. I'm just questioning the logic of people that say "it's hard for a victim of abuse to come out and talk about what happened" since for 20 years she kept quiet and all of a sudden was talking about it ON NATIONAL TV!

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I’m not saying money isn’t a factor, but you have to consider the fact that this poor kid probably knew that the adults were aware and did nothing. I would not blame her for keeping silent as an adult.

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[deleted]

whatever dude. if you wanna sympathise with someone almost definately partially responsible for the molestation of kids, go for it.

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Chng...CHNG!!!

Tracey GRIMEshaw is the epitome of the Australian media parasite. Is there any way, through the Freedom Of Information Act (that these current affairs farts on visual media employ), that the general public can access the financial transfers between Channel 9's accounts and those of Sarah Monahan?

Food for thought!!



"Scepticism is the highest of duties, and blind faith the one unpardonable sin.” Thomas Huxley

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Chng...CHNG!!!

Tracey GRIMEshaw is the epitome of the Australian media parasite. Is there any way, through the Freedom Of Information Act (that these current affairs farts on visual media employ), that the general public can access the financial transfers between Channel 9's accounts and those of Sarah Monahan?

Food for thought!!
I fail to see how this is relevant.

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[deleted]

[deleted]

no, these posts aren't about why she wouldn't open up. they're about the discussion of whether, DESPITE WHY she wouldn't open up, she is still wrong for not doing so. all you're doing is constantly reiterating your explanation of why a victim of abuse would find it hard to come forward. And as I've explained to you several times already, I understand what you're saying. I still think said victim is selfish and irresponsible.

a lesson in comprehension from the one failing to realise that i'm talking about you sympathising with sarah monahan, not robert hughes. robert hughes allegedly molested several girls JUST from the TV show. It's highly unlikely that in the time since then he hasn't molested more children. if he has, it is indisputable that due to her actions, or lack thereof, sarah monahan is in fact partially responsible for the molestation of these children.



- Without knowledge, wisdom cannot exist. But without wisdom, knowledge has no use.

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[deleted]

nope, i'm afraid you did not. if you care to, i'll listen. but if you want to run away from the argument, which is what it seems like, that's fine too. either way i know i'm right. LMAO.

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[deleted]

emmiedem, the fat chicks poster is either a child molestor themselves (99% sure), or simply a troll. Or both. Either way, do what I do, report them for being libelous (or obscene) and click on ignore user. That guy is clearly very mentally ill and conversing with sickos like that is a waste of time.

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[deleted]

[deleted]

yup, almost as typical and predictable as simply telling someone they don't know what they're talking about rather than explaining to them why they're wrong.

No, you have yet to justify the actions of Sarah Monahan. explaining why it would be hard for her to come forward is not doing this. she is still at fault for the freedom of a dangerous man. being a victim of abuse does not mean all your responsibilities are lifted.

huh, funny how neverbeentoparis and I are BOTH ignorant idiots that have no idea what we're talking about, yet our opinions on the topic have clashed.



- Without knowledge, wisdom cannot exist. But without wisdom, knowledge has no use.

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Don't worry.....Gypsy12 has an unhealthy obsession for Sandra Bullock.




"Scepticism is the highest of duties, and blind faith the one unpardonable sin.” Thomas Huxley

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Unless you have been a victim of abuse, you can't make a judgment either way!

How the hell do you know that you wouldn't respond the same way in the same situation. You don't, because it never happened to you. So you can't determine a person's motivation for doing or not doing this. So, until you have some understanding, you insensitive prick, shut your hole!

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but if i WERE a victim of abuse and i didn't speak out, 20 years later, in retrospect, i would be willing to admit i was an irresponsible coward.

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So even though she DID speak out at the time, and has had several people come forward to say that she spoke about it, but all involved were told to hush up, she's still an irresponsible coward? When it comes out that other girls were abused before Sarah, and they didn't speak out, will you blame them for allowing him to go on to abuse her?
Criminal investigations can take years. While it's in process, there's a gag order. At least this way, he won't be out there molesting further children while he's being investigated. With this information out there, would you let Robert near your kids?

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How is that her responsibility, you goose? Adult cast and crew members knew about this and did nothing (and have continued to do nothing for seventeen years), and you are arguing that she didn’t come forward soon enough? Honestly, what is wrong with you?

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except that people aren't treating the cast and crew like heroes.

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Nothing happens if she doesn’t speak out, so I’d say she has more balls than most, if not all, of the men that worked on the show.

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I just found out about this when I heard it on the radio this afternoon and even twitted about it. I just can't believe it.

http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/television/hey-dad-actor-robert-h ughes-denies-sex-claims/story-e6frfmyi-1225844930846




- - -
Follow me on twitter
http://twitter.com/cleftheart

The difference between reality and fiction?
Fiction has to make sense.
~Tom Clancy

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Well naturally he is going to deny any wrongdoing if he didn't do anything but of course he is also going to deny it if he did everything of which he is accused. He might also firmly believe he has done no wrong in which case he needs psychiatric help as well as jail.

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[deleted]

Some sources are saying the offender is Bert Newton.




"Scepticism is the highest of duties, and blind faith the one unpardonable sin.” Thomas Huxley

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[deleted]

havent heard anything yet
Heather O'Rourke,Judith Barsi,Dominique Dunne,Heath Ledger

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something on a current affair on tonight march 7th

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[deleted]

i hear today tonight are doing something about himm tonight at 6.30pm.
probably just the same as last night on a current affair, they seem to copy each other

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Today Tonight is promoting an interview with a family member of Robert Hughes, to air Monday 14 March.

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[deleted]

It isn't surprising that he abused other young girls. And being a relative I imagine it's even more difficult to come forward. I'd bet that there are many more.

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ACA had an update on the scandal earlier tonight. Video is up on ACA's website.

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Had seen it on ACA.

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[deleted]

Anybody who is criticising Sarah (the victim) and supporting Robert Hughes (the perpetrator) is probably a closet paedophile themselves, since how can anyone defend the actions of a paedophile, and condemn someone trying to stop it, unless they are one themselves.

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Just hope he gets jail time and not some pathetic rap on the knuckles like so often happens in these cases.

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ScootyPuff, Jr., I am troubled by your condemnation of Sarah Monahan-Morris.
While I agree with you that it would have been better for Hughes to have been brought to justice years ago, I do not believe Monahan-Morris should be condemned for waiting as long as she did before speaking out. If you condemn an abuse victim for waiting a long time before coming forward, then think of the message that sends to abuse victims who have not come forward yet. If the abuse happened a long time ago and they have not yet come forward, they might think that if they do come forward they will be condemned, and this could prevent them from coming forward.

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