Well I've reached almost complete burnout stage and need to take a day or two away from the onslaught ... hanging on by my fingernails ... but still here, so I guess that's a good thing
For those of us who know our life journey and what the AFP did to my kids and I you'll be horrified to know that one of the things that SASR did to Zeek was conducted a Record of Conversation with Zeek where he was cautioned about having been charged by the AFP as a child with Perjury for disclosing Child Sexual Assaults he'd been the victim of. Assaults committed by a serving Federal Agent at the time. He was charged and convicted after he gave evidence against the then serving Federal Agent at two committal hearings, one in NSW and the other in the ACT. The ACT committal hearing was a fully heard committal hearing, and the NSW a paper committal. The then serving Federal Agent was committed to trial on 24 charges of Child Sexual Assault on a child under the age of 10.
The case proceeded to the ACT Supreme Court for trial, all the expert witnesses were dismissed on the morning of the trial by the Trial Judge who just happen to take over the trial that morning from the judge that had been allocated the trial originally.
These expert witness had already arrived in Canberra and had been flown in from various parts of Australia to give evidence, and were suddenly told the morning of the trial that their evidence was not required. Every single witness who could provide expert advice in relation to the Federal Agent facing trial was dismissed by this late comer Judge.
Then the Judge permitted 6 character witness to give evidence of the Federal Agents good character in lieu of the Expert Witnesses who were to give evidence supporting the charges against him.
No prizes for guessing the Federal Agent was acquitted at trial. That was 1998.
The Federal Agent had been dismissed from the AFP in June 1997 after the fully heard committal hearing, by the then AFP Commissioner Mick Palmer.
In April 2001 former Commissioner Keelty was sworn in as AFP Commissioner and that very week the Federal Agent was re-employed by Commissioner Keelty. They then went after Zeek and had him charged with and convicted of Perjury for the evidence he gave in relation to the sexual assaults he suffered as a child, They did this when Zeek was 15 years old. The outcome of this was that the Federal Agent was no longer required to repay the Criminal Injuries Compensation that Zeek had been awarded in both NSW and the ACT on the basis of the Expert Evidence, the same expert evidence that the Trial Judge had dismissed minutes before the ACT trial was to begin.
When Zeek applied to join the Army his enlistment process was halted because he was required to disclose any criminal convictions, as a child or otherwise.
They sent Zeek to see the Army Recruitment Psychologist, who then sent Zeek to seek an independent Psychiatrist report to establish his suitability for enlistment. Not because of the perjury charge, but because of his experience as a victim of Child Sexual Assault. Zeek did this and paid for the report out of his own money, which cost him $500 at the time, Zeek was 21.
The SASR OC became aware of Zeek's experience of Child Sexual Assault and his conviction and then ordered he be cautioned over failing to disclose this on his enlistment. The OC never checked.
There's an official typed record of conversation where all this is in black and white. They also asked him about being a victim of child sexual assault and what counselling he'd received during his lifetime. Yup ALL IN BLACK AND WHITE and signed off on.
MORAL OF THIS STORY - if you've ever been a victim of Sexual Assault as a Child or as an Adult DON'T APPLY TO SERVE YOUR COUNTRY .... according to these guys YOU ARE NOT A FIT PERSON TO DO SO.
Angry? Yes. Hurt? Yes. Heartbroken? Yes.
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