physician
Some things never change.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national...ssault-of-girls/2005/12/25/1135445486554.html
AN RAAF employee of 20 years whose children were sexually assaulted by a senior officer was forced to resign after defence bosses allowed the attacker continued access to the base where she worked.
The woman's daughters, aged 8 and 12, were assaulted by former wing commander Terry Morgan in June. When the woman tendered her resignation a month later, her commanding officer asked her to remove the reason from her letter, and to "let it go".
"You don't want this to follow you around," the woman says she was told.
Morgan, a pilot and former family friend, was convicted in September of four counts of indecent acts on a child under 16, and possession of child pornography. He resigned from the RAAF that month, taking with him the full "entitlements that were legally owing to him", the Department of Defence said. He continued to enjoy access to the base during the months before his trial, while on bail.
The woman's letter read: "My resignation is in the main due to a pedophile who is employed as a senior officer in the RAAF at this base. This individual attacked my two young girls four weeks ago and my family and I no longer feel safe in this locality." The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, refused to alter her letter.
The officer who allegedly told her to rewrite it, Wing Commander Terry Atkinson, declined to comment. Morgan is serving a three-month jail sentence, having abandoned an appeal.
The woman, who joined the RAAF in 1985 when she was 18, initially in uniform, before taking on a civilian job in 2001, believes she was mistreated by the Defence establishment.
The Department of Defence is still reeling from a parliamentary report on its military justice system, and is burdened by retention and recruitment problems. The combined services are 1000 people short of personnel targets, and the Federal Government has just announced it wants to expand the army by 1500.
The woman says the department tried to "cover up" the incident, instructing pilots at RAAF East Sale in Victoria, where Morgan worked, not to talk or ask questions about the assault.
"All staff including myself were being told it was in my best interest not to talk about the situation," she said.
"Here the RAAF were pretending it didn't happen and forbidding people to ask questions. I was horrified at how it was brushed under the carpet."
She is also angry that she was never informed that Morgan, while on bail, was allowed full access to the base where she was working. "He should have been made to hand in his ID and told not to come on base," she said.
A Defence spokeswoman said: "Until an individual has been found guilty of any allegations made against him/her, the presumption of innocence prevails unless a court makes an order prescribing otherwise. Mr Morgan's bail conditions are a matter for the civilian authorities. To Defence's knowledge, his access to the base was not in breach of bail conditions, with no breach being reported to the local police."
The woman says she was never offered assistance to move to another base - an option that was open to her employers under the Defence Employees' Certified Agreement, but which she learnt of only after she resigned.
A Defence spokeswoman said: "Defence did seek to address safety concerns of [the woman]." Asked to elaborate, she said: "As soon as Defence became aware of [the woman's] concerns, her unit commander sought to address these concerns by recommending she access appropriate counselling and support mechanisms available to her under departmental policy and agreed to a period of leave from the workplace to allow her time to access these services."
The woman said this happened only at the time of her resignation. She said that since the assault, her eight-year-old had "clinically regressed to [the age] of a four-year-old and has reverted to sucking her thumb. She is also extremely violent and cannot control her anger." Her 12-year-old suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorders, is under psychiatric care and on antidepressants.
The woman says she wants the Australian Defence Force to "take ownership for the stuff that goes on its own backyard, and not hide it all the time".
"Terry Morgan has destroyed my little girls' lives and was allowed to retire with his life fairly well intact to those who don't know, due to the RAAF cover-up.
"My girls, on the other hand, have had to move states and they will carry this memory for life."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I think thats disgusting.
She said that since the assault, her eight-year-old had "clinically regressed to [the age] of a four-year-old and has reverted to sucking her thumb. She is also extremely violent and cannot control her anger." Her 12-year-old suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorders, is under psychiatric care and on antidepressants.
Whats even worse is...
Morgan is serving a three-month jail sentence, having abandoned an appeal.
3 months??? A "little" unreasonable perhaps?
Sometimes i wonder if this is anything in comparison to other things that may be swept "under the carpet"
AN RAAF employee of 20 years whose children were sexually assaulted by a senior officer was forced to resign after defence bosses allowed the attacker continued access to the base where she worked.
The woman's daughters, aged 8 and 12, were assaulted by former wing commander Terry Morgan in June. When the woman tendered her resignation a month later, her commanding officer asked her to remove the reason from her letter, and to "let it go".
"You don't want this to follow you around," the woman says she was told.
Morgan, a pilot and former family friend, was convicted in September of four counts of indecent acts on a child under 16, and possession of child pornography. He resigned from the RAAF that month, taking with him the full "entitlements that were legally owing to him", the Department of Defence said. He continued to enjoy access to the base during the months before his trial, while on bail.
The woman's letter read: "My resignation is in the main due to a pedophile who is employed as a senior officer in the RAAF at this base. This individual attacked my two young girls four weeks ago and my family and I no longer feel safe in this locality." The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, refused to alter her letter.
The officer who allegedly told her to rewrite it, Wing Commander Terry Atkinson, declined to comment. Morgan is serving a three-month jail sentence, having abandoned an appeal.
The woman, who joined the RAAF in 1985 when she was 18, initially in uniform, before taking on a civilian job in 2001, believes she was mistreated by the Defence establishment.
The Department of Defence is still reeling from a parliamentary report on its military justice system, and is burdened by retention and recruitment problems. The combined services are 1000 people short of personnel targets, and the Federal Government has just announced it wants to expand the army by 1500.
The woman says the department tried to "cover up" the incident, instructing pilots at RAAF East Sale in Victoria, where Morgan worked, not to talk or ask questions about the assault.
"All staff including myself were being told it was in my best interest not to talk about the situation," she said.
"Here the RAAF were pretending it didn't happen and forbidding people to ask questions. I was horrified at how it was brushed under the carpet."
She is also angry that she was never informed that Morgan, while on bail, was allowed full access to the base where she was working. "He should have been made to hand in his ID and told not to come on base," she said.
A Defence spokeswoman said: "Until an individual has been found guilty of any allegations made against him/her, the presumption of innocence prevails unless a court makes an order prescribing otherwise. Mr Morgan's bail conditions are a matter for the civilian authorities. To Defence's knowledge, his access to the base was not in breach of bail conditions, with no breach being reported to the local police."
The woman says she was never offered assistance to move to another base - an option that was open to her employers under the Defence Employees' Certified Agreement, but which she learnt of only after she resigned.
A Defence spokeswoman said: "Defence did seek to address safety concerns of [the woman]." Asked to elaborate, she said: "As soon as Defence became aware of [the woman's] concerns, her unit commander sought to address these concerns by recommending she access appropriate counselling and support mechanisms available to her under departmental policy and agreed to a period of leave from the workplace to allow her time to access these services."
The woman said this happened only at the time of her resignation. She said that since the assault, her eight-year-old had "clinically regressed to [the age] of a four-year-old and has reverted to sucking her thumb. She is also extremely violent and cannot control her anger." Her 12-year-old suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorders, is under psychiatric care and on antidepressants.
The woman says she wants the Australian Defence Force to "take ownership for the stuff that goes on its own backyard, and not hide it all the time".
"Terry Morgan has destroyed my little girls' lives and was allowed to retire with his life fairly well intact to those who don't know, due to the RAAF cover-up.
"My girls, on the other hand, have had to move states and they will carry this memory for life."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I think thats disgusting.
She said that since the assault, her eight-year-old had "clinically regressed to [the age] of a four-year-old and has reverted to sucking her thumb. She is also extremely violent and cannot control her anger." Her 12-year-old suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorders, is under psychiatric care and on antidepressants.
Whats even worse is...
Morgan is serving a three-month jail sentence, having abandoned an appeal.
3 months??? A "little" unreasonable perhaps?
Sometimes i wonder if this is anything in comparison to other things that may be swept "under the carpet"
Last edited:
