My Predator Has Been Released From Prison

Summary

Podcast Summary: Australian True Crime — "My Predator Has Been Released From Prison"

Host: Michelle Laurie
Guest: Alesha (victim/survivor)
Date: March 9, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode is a follow-up to Alesha's harrowing 2018 interview about her childhood sexual assault at age seven—a case that led to a rare conviction 26 years later. Now, years after her perpetrator, Sterling Bauer, has served his sentence, Alesha returns to discuss his release, the supervision order process, and the enduring effects of the crime on her, her family, and her worldview. The dialogue is raw, unflinching, and deeply personal, offering insight into the long-term ramifications for survivors, inadequacies in support systems, and systemic failures in managing sexual offenders.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Lingering Impact of Childhood Sexual Assault

• Enduring Trauma:

  • Alesha describes the lifelong consequences:

    "This has affected me for my whole life. It's affected my girl's life. It's affected just about every past relationship that I've ever had. This is not an easy road to walk down." (Alesha, 00:07)

  • Discusses generational trauma — her children’s freedoms have been curtailed due to her experiences and hypervigilance.
  • Expresses pain at not knowing “the person [she] was supposed to be.”

    "I've always been the girl that was raped. I never got to know the person who I was supposed to be." (Alesha, 53:43)

• Parenthood and Paranoia:

  • Both Alesha and Michelle, as single mums, openly discuss the anxiety and constant risk assessment around their daughters’ safety (e.g., strict rules on sleepovers, walking to school, and exposure to adults).

Reactions to Legal Lingua and Systemic Handling

• Language Matters:

  • Michelle and Alesha emphasize the importance of naming the crime as “rape” rather than the more euphemistic “sexual assault.”

    "I say I use the word rape because... to say sexually assaulted is a bit of a cop out in a way." (Michelle, 03:43)
    "I 100% agree...I want people to know that he raped me." (Alesha, 03:57 & 04:13)

• Conviction and Sentencing:

  • The perpetrator received a six-year sentence (no parole), which both agree seems insufficient, especially for serial offenders.

    “Six years for rape seems pretty standard... he can have another one of us in six years?” (Michelle, 07:55)

  • Due to the crime’s historical nature, later offences weren't considered at sentencing.

The Reality of Reporting, Prosecution & Aftermath

• Complex Legal Journey:

  • Alesha’s offender was ultimately convicted due to her persistent efforts—reopening the case, new DNA matches, and connecting with specialized police units.
  • The sentencing reflected the laws from 1989, restricting the inclusion of subsequent offences in court.
    • The perpetrator was already on the sex offenders registry for crimes in Queensland.

• Courtroom Experiences:

  • Alesha shares intensely uncomfortable moments of proximity to her attacker, highlighting how victims must often physically navigate the same spaces as offenders in court.

    "The first thing I noticed... he was sitting directly in front of me, and I've looked down and I could see his ankle. I could put my foot up and kick the back of his chair. That's how close we were." (Alesha, 34:15)

  • She regularly attends hearings to retain agency and knowledge—the only way to feel some power in the process.

• Emotional Fallout and Systemic Neglect:

  • Michelle and Alesha discuss the lack of long-term or accessible mental health support for survivors versus the resources available to offenders in prison.

    "It costs a lot of money to be a victim. Your ability to work." (Michelle, 57:00)
    "I've had access to no one. Victims of crime is really, really needs to look at changing their system." (Alesha, 57:50)

Release, Supervision, and Limited Protection

• Supervision Orders & Release:

  • Alesha was notified Bauer would be released, first to a "farm jail" (transitional supervised accommodation), considered high risk for reoffending.
  • Initially, a 4-month interim supervision order, later extended to four years under strict conditions.
  • The sense of safety was limited and temporary:

    "It gave me another four years where I could sleep a little bit easier, I guess." (Alesha, 30:54)

  • Ultimately, her attacker’s supervision order was revoked earlier than expected, meaning she’s no longer on the victims register and is not notified of his whereabouts or actions.

• Ongoing Hypervigilance:

  • Alesha keeps photos of Bauer to remember his face and remains constantly alert in public—an acute and exhausting state of PTSD.
  • Facebook “stalking” provides temporary information but the loss of traceability with his release increases anxiety.

Systemic Failures and the Survivor’s Burden

• Inadequate Restorative Justice:

  • Alesha highlights how, post-release, the offender can rebuild his life, possibly change his name, and have community support, while she navigates trauma, insecurity, and financial hardship.
  • She received a $10,000 crime payout at 18 but has had no real access to lifelong trauma support, in sharp contrast to the hundreds of thousands spent on incarcerating her perpetrator.

• System Focused on Offenders:

  "I've been offered nothing... my biggest problem is, it is [all about the offender]." (Alesha & Michelle, 55:06-11)

• Victim-Blaming & Emotional Complexity:

  • Continual struggle with misplaced guilt, shame, and anger—especially regarding her own “seven-year-old self.”
  • Deep empathy for her own mother, whose life was upended and marked by feelings of failure she could never have prevented.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the generational toll:

  "My children have suffered because of what happened to me." (Alesha, 25:50)

• On the inadequacies of release supervision:

  "If you reckon he's ready for release, move him in next to your place." (Michelle, 23:02)

• On anger at her childhood self:

  "I'm so angry at that little girl...that she went with him.” (Alesha, 13:51-13:54)

• Courtroom proximity shock:

  “He was sitting directly in front of me...I could put my foot up and kick the back of his chair. That's how close we were." (Alesha, 34:15)

• Naming the crime:

  "I want people to know that he raped me." (Alesha, 04:13)

• Systemic unfairness:

  "It costs between $150,000 to $200,000 to keep a prisoner in jail for a year...He was in jail for six years and I get $10,000." (Alesha, 58:40)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [00:07] – Alesha’s opening statement: impact of the crime.
• [03:43] – Discussion of language: sexual assault vs. rape.
• [07:51] – Sentencing and legal process details.
• [13:51] – Alesha on anger at her “little girl” self.
• [21:14] – Explanation of supervision orders.
• [30:26] – Court-ordered supervision; her relief.
• [34:15] – Seated next to offender in court for first time post-release.
• [42:43] – Maintaining a recent photo of offender for her own vigilance.
• [53:43] – Loss of the person she could have been.
• [55:11] – Shift from victim to “non-victim” as the system moves on.
• [58:40] – Stark comparison of costs and compensation.

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Closing Thoughts

Alesha’s story highlights the profound, lifelong consequences that childhood sexual assault imposes—not just on individuals but on families and entire generations. Despite her courage and the rare legal conviction she achieved through unyielding determination, the system’s support remains brief, bureaucratic, and heavily weighted toward offenders’ rehabilitation and privacy. The episode is a powerful testament to survival, the limits of justice, and the need for systemic reform in victim support.

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If you or someone you know needs support:

• 1-800-Respect (1-800-737-732)
• Lifeline (13 11 14)
• Indigenous Australians: 13 YARN (13 92 76)

Transcript

[Michelle Laurie]

The following podcast contains accounts of child sexual assault. Listener discretion is advised.

[Alesha]

I hope he listens to this because I want him to know it's not just what he did back to me in 1989. This has affected me for my whole life. It's affected my girl's life. It's affected just about every past relationship that I've ever had. This is not an easy road to walk down.

[Michelle Laurie]

This is Australian True Crime with Michelle Laurie. Last week we reissued an episode from 2018, one of our earliest episodes, in fact, in which Alesha told us about the childhood sexual assault that became a 26 year cold case. The good news was that her offender, Sterling Bauer, was captured and convicted for the crime. Elisha joins us today on the podcast and also on the YouTube channel to give us an update on what's happened since then and the whereabouts of her offender. This is Australian True Crime. We acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which this podcast is created, the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung People of the Kulin Nation. So. It's been such a long time. I can't believe it.

[Alesha]

Eight years.

[Michelle Laurie]

When I think of you, and I do think of you often, and I often mention yours as one of my favourite episodes.

[Alesha]

Oh, thank you.

[Michelle Laurie]

Which sounds insane. That's the True Crime.

[Alesha]

Weird world in that 100%.

[Michelle Laurie]

It's a heartbreaking episode, but I think of it fondly because I think of you fondly. And it was a sort of a jubilant episode in the end because it was all about your pushing after 20 something years, asking the police to open 26 to reopen the case. And you've got a conviction so rare, we know the statistics in Australia are

[Alesha]

100% terrible and especially after such a long time.

[Michelle Laurie]

Yeah. So if you're listening or watching this podcast and you haven't heard the previous one, the last one that we put out, which was a replay of your first interview. Yes, I would suggest you do, because in that episode you did speak very candidly about what happened to you when you were a little girl.

[Alesha]

Yep.

[Michelle Laurie]

When you were 7.

[Alesha]

Recording that podcast was so cathartic and it was so nice to be able to get it off my chest. But then it was also all of the messages that I received after it and the emails and yeah, it. That was just amazing. And I still go back now and read them, especially the one there was an email from a truck driver, I think his name was Mikey. And he was saying that, you know, when he gets in his truck to do long trips, that yeah, he quite often will pop, you know, the podcasts on and yeah, we've got a lot

[Michelle Laurie]

of truck drivers listening. Yeah.

[Alesha]

And his message was just lovely. And he was, you know, said that he's a big, you know, truck driver and here he was crying along and smiling and laughing at, you know, the appropriate parts.

[Michelle Laurie]

But you were able to really revisit it through your 7 year old self's eyes. I mean, the things in mind, the things that you said, you know, that were just made us all really engage with a little girl's experience of what happened, you know, the innocence of experiencing it that way. Exactly.

[Alesha]

And even just the fact of. Yeah, the things that were said where I didn't even know those things happened to a man or you know, things like that.

[Michelle Laurie]

Yeah. The way you described it at the time was heartbreaking. It was brilliant that you're such a great. Your self expression is excellent still. And obviously it was when you were little.

[Alesha]

Thank you.

[Michelle Laurie]

But yeah, really, really heartbreaking to hear how a little girl describes being raped.

[Alesha]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Michelle Laurie]

And I say I use the word rape because I've found myself and someone else brought it up as well in a conversation saying sexually assaulted a lot. And I think it's a bit of a cop out in a way.

[Alesha]

I 100% agree.

[Michelle Laurie]

Okay, good. I felt like I was being a coward by saying that, saying it in the nicest way I could possible. When it's. We're talking about rape.

[Alesha]

That's exactly what it is. And for me, sexual assault is a rather large umbrella.

[Michelle Laurie]

Absolutely.

[Alesha]

Yeah, yeah. And I want people to know that he raped me. Yeah.

[Michelle Laurie]

When you were seven years old.

[Alesha]

Yep.

[Michelle Laurie]

Okay. So as I say, last time we spoke it was this really positive resolution. You were feeling positive, you got a conviction. I think it's something like 2% of I'll use sexual assault in this case. Cause it is, it is the umbrella. But cases get convictions and that's of the cases that are reported, of course, most are never reported. What has happened since then? Tell us about what's been going on in your life for the last seven, eight years.

[Alesha]

Well, I'm now a single mum.

[Michelle Laurie]

Okay.

[Alesha]

So I had a relationship breakup.

[Michelle Laurie]

Me too. Single mum. Yep.

[Alesha]

So you know, that in itself is quite tricky. Having two daughters has been quite tricky. Wanting to go to sleepovers and things like that. And you just always wary.

[Michelle Laurie]

It's funny, I find that when I was a kid we were at sleepovers literally every weekend. And now kids don't do them. And I think it's parents like Us who just go, nah. Or a lot of kids seem to be allowed at my place. I think because I am a single mum. Yeah.

[Alesha]

I haven't stopped my kids if they wanted to go to a sleepover. I've just been. I guess I've chosen where they were allowed to go and sleep over.

[Michelle Laurie]

Yeah.

[Alesha]

Make sure that I know the parents quite well. You know, it can still happen at any time, but. Yeah, just that.

[Michelle Laurie]

But you can't relax like.

[Alesha]

No.

[Michelle Laurie]

Yeah. 100 walking to school.

[Alesha]

They never went to school.

[Michelle Laurie]

My mom lives like three blocks away from us. And I was thinking, gosh, when I was a kid, I would have been sent every day, take this over to Nan's.

[Alesha]

I didn't even know where we were on the weekends. You know, there was no phones, there was no tracking, there was nothing. And we were never home.

[Michelle Laurie]

And still, we know statistically what happened to you is unlikely, but the fact that.

[Alesha]

But it happened to me in my mind.

[Michelle Laurie]

It happened to a friend of mine, happened to a lady I know, being you, I can never get over it. It could happen.

[Alesha]

And as you said, statistically, it's more likely to be somebody that you know, but who's not to say that, like me, when you're out and about, there's somebody that lives by that's watching you that you are totally oblivious of. You have no idea. And that's exactly what happened to me.

[Michelle Laurie]

Well, when you say watching you, it's not like he was watching you and planned this for ages, was it? This was a real crime of opportunity. They did that.

[Alesha]

It was a crime of opportunity. However, the way that he led me away from my walk home was he told me that he knew my brother. He had said what bikes we had ridden. And he literally was in the next street to us. So he had seen us around again. Cause the kids were always out. We were always out and about. So he did know things about me that, you know, weren't just from seeing me that first time.

[Michelle Laurie]

So after you, you went to police because you were chatting with somebody else who had had a long term unsolved case and who went to the police and said, what's going on? Fire up. Yep.

[Alesha]

A couple of drinks one night. Yeah. And she said, go, you know, why don't you try? And I was like, all right, why not? So that's exactly what I did. That was in 2014. And then it was Easter 2015 when I was contacted by Lee Prados from the Cold Case and Missing Person Unit. And yeah, that's when he came and told Me that they'd found more evidence and were able to pull the DNA off that and they found a match. And then it was. That would have been April. And then it was in May when he was arrested in Queensland.

[Michelle Laurie]

Sterling Bauer is his name. And by that stage he was on the sex offenders registry.

[Alesha]

He. Yes. Had committed crimes up in Queensland.

[Michelle Laurie]

Yep. Against children.

[Alesha]

Yes, yep.

[Michelle Laurie]

So they were able to get that DNA match and pursue it. From there. He was convicted. What sort of sentence did he get?

[Alesha]

So he got six years for non parole and he ended up serving his full six years.

[Michelle Laurie]

You know what, six years for rape seems pretty standard. I feel like I read that a lot. And when it comes to serial offenders, I always think, oh, okay, so you're saying he can have another one of us in six years?

[Alesha]

Yeah.

[Michelle Laurie]

Is that the message?

[Alesha]

I was advised when this all first started happening that because he raped me in 1989, the courts had to look at it as if it was 1989. So anything he had done after that wouldn't actually, you know, count when it was. The very first, I think it might have been, was in 2016 when we went to one of the hearings. Lee Prados, the detective, said to me, oh, Alicia, I want you to meet such and such. It was another detective that had been working on the case. She was like, oh my gosh, Alicia, I've got the funniest story. Well, maybe not funniest story, but I've got a story for you. She goes, there were things when I was looking at this case that seemed familiar to me and she goes, it was a purple tracksuit. And she goes. And then we went back and found the Crime Stoppers video. So at the time her mum actually worked for Crime Stoppers and she was, you know, a call taker and they needed a young girl to play me in the video and it was her.

[Michelle Laurie]

That's amazing.

[Alesha]

Put the finger on crime.

[Crime Stoppers Narrator]

Wednesday, September 6, around 3:30 and a seven year old girl leaves her East Ringwood Primary School to walk home. She walks to busy Mount Dandenong Road, crosses and continues towards Ware Street. She sees a youth sitting on a front fence just near Ware Street. The youngster walks past him and turns into Ware Street. He follows and talks to her. He walks with the seven year old, convincing her to go to a nearby secluded bush area. He then raped the child. Police need your help to catch this youth before he strikes again.

[Alesha]

So this detective had played me in that Crime Stoppers video when I was 7 and she was years later.

[Michelle Laurie]

She grew up to be a Detective.

[Alesha]

And worked on the case.

[Michelle Laurie]

Your case.

[Alesha]

Like, isn't that just.

[Michelle Laurie]

Yeah. Horrible circumstances, but we love those.

[Alesha]

I just.

[Michelle Laurie]

Full circle moments.

[Alesha]

Yeah. And that's what it was like. But there was nothing like. It didn't upset me. It upset me that they. They said it was Ware street, but it was actually where Crescent. Where he lived or where he met me.

[Michelle Laurie]

I found it startling to watch, to be honest, because I felt like you had told me the story. But seeing you were then.

[Alesha]

Yeah.

[Michelle Laurie]

The street, the park, the. All of that was really.

[Alesha]

Yeah.

[Michelle Laurie]

Yeah. Startling.

[Alesha]

I don't know. I guess when I first wanted to get the case opened, I went to the state library and found all the newspaper clippings. Because I could remember there were newspaper clippings. I remember going to Target with the police to pick out my clothes that I was wearing. And they would have been the clothes that they used in the Crime Stoppers video. The flannelette shirt and the parachute pants that he was wearing. I actually went with them and picked those clothes out.

[Michelle Laurie]

The clothes he was wearing?

[Alesha]

Yeah, yeah. To match up what he was wearing. And then they were also used on the mannequins because they had a caravan set up. An information caravan.

[Michelle Laurie]

God, that's intense, even that. Taking a little girl and going in Target.

[Alesha]

Yeah.

[Michelle Laurie]

What was he wearing?

[Alesha]

Square in Ringwood remembers what it used to be like out there. Wow. Yep. Yep. We went there and. Yeah. Picked out the clothes. Got Maccas on the way home.

[Michelle Laurie]

I should bloody hope so.

[Alesha]

Yeah. I remember them taking me to Maccas a few times. We used to drive around in the streets. They would take me just for drives around school time.

[Michelle Laurie]

Just in case you saw him.

[Alesha]

Yeah, in case I saw him. They used to bring the school photos over in the. You know, and I'd have to sit there and look through all school photos to see if I could recognise him.

[Michelle Laurie]

Like high school yearbooks in that locally.

[Alesha]

Yep.

[Michelle Laurie]

God, isn't amazing how tough kids are.

[Alesha]

Yeah. It's also amazing how our brains work. The fact that I don't. I still don't remember. I can remember parts of the actual crime. I can remember the lead up. You know, I can see his naked thighs so vividly. Like I feel like I could almost see every hair that was on his thighs, but I don't. Yeah. And that's apparently your. Your brain's way of. Of helping you cope. To me, that's just amazing. As I said to you, for me, I. Talking about all this, it doesn't feel like it was me. This does all of that. The Court does. Yeah, but it doesn't feel like me that was raped.

[Michelle Laurie]

You said last time that you feel sorry for that little girl.

[Alesha]

Oh, I feel so sorry for her because. Yeah, I just, I think about what she went through and I just, I look at my kids when I recorded that podcast, my eldest daughter was seven and I just could never think, never imagine it happening to them. I just, I don't know what I would do.

[Michelle Laurie]

No, I don't know. What, like your mum, jump in the car and go look for him? I suppose it'd be your first response.

[Alesha]

But then for the rest of your life. For the rest of their lives. Yeah, I just, I don't.

[Michelle Laurie]

But you must be proud of her, that little girl, for running home, for telling mum straight away, I don't think

[Alesha]

she knew any better.

[Michelle Laurie]

For, for going through everything from physical examinations to going to Target with the police and having to remember what he wore and all of that. Like, you must be proud of that little girl.

[Alesha]

Yeah, that. I don't know. My doctor actually asked me the other day. I was having a really angry moment and I said to her, I said, I'm so angry at that little girl.

[Michelle Laurie]

Really? Why?

[Alesha]

I'm angry that she went with him.

[Michelle Laurie]

Oh, darl.

[Alesha]

And you even said it in the last podcast, you know, seven year old girl. We were taught to do the right

[Michelle Laurie]

thing and do what we were told.

[Alesha]

Yeah, do what we were told.

[Michelle Laurie]

But we had those duelling messages of stranger danger. But at the same time, be polite, do what adults tell you. And that caught a lot of kids out.

[Alesha]

100%. 100%. You know, and that's again where we go back to so many cases, it's actually people that you know.

[Michelle Laurie]

But in your case, he convinced you that he knew you. Cause he knew some things about you.

[Alesha]

Exactly. And that was his way of getting me to go with him. You know, we hear so many people that, yeah, get groomed and offenders know who to target. You know, quite often you'd hear the family might have been separated or dad was never home and you know, they come in and go, oh, you know, I'll help you out and I can do this and I can mind your kids and I can drive them here and I can drive them there.

[Michelle Laurie]

Overwhelmed single mom with lots of kids, things like that.

[Alesha]

Yeah, exactly. Whereas, yeah, I was just a little girl walking home from school.

[Michelle Laurie]

Tell us about the court experience.

[Alesha]

All right, so the court, when I came in here, court was in 2016, so. And I was here in 2018 and I was feeling really good when I came in here in 2018. I think I even said it on my pod, you know, said it to you in the podcast that, you know. Yeah, I feel. I feel good now and I'm happy and all of that.

[Michelle Laurie]

And we all say that sometimes. I mean, I'm fine. Doesn't bother me, but. But we forget how things can come up and grab us again.

[Alesha]

Well, something I think about every day. Every day especially, you know, it's all over the news. There's things happening every day, all the time, and so it's hard to forget it. And it's. I think I'll think about it every day for the rest of my life until I die.

[Michelle Laurie]

Especially, like, I wonder if, even though the circumstances are very different, with the Epstein files in the news at the moment, 100% triggering.

[Alesha]

Yep. Yep. Anything? There was a high school teacher in Langwarren who has just been convicted and I think he got, you know, like a few months or something and he had child exploitation material on his phone and he was a principal of a primary school. You know, you're hearing that. And obviously mine didn't involve child exploitation material, but it just makes you think of it.

[Michelle Laurie]

Or billionaires. But I would imagine that just, you know, going about your business, going about your life, scrolling on your phone, these things would come up constantly.

[Alesha]

Yep. Put the news on TV and you hear about something. It's dreadful.

[Michelle Laurie]

So now that you look back at, how do you feel now about the court case? How have things.

[Alesha]

Well, obviously I'm still happy that, you know, obviously he was in jail. It's funny, though, because I guess for those six years, whilst I'm still thinking about it, you're not worrying about it, if that makes sense. Until you then get the emails that start coming through. I was on the victim's register, so they let you know anything that's updated or been changed in, in the case. When you then start getting those emails. It's funny because when I thought about him being arrested and I thought about him being in jail. This is going to sound really silly, but you don't actually think about when he's released, so. Well, I didn't anyway, because it did. When I came in to the podcast, you sort of felt like it was done that. That's it. And then as it got closer to, you know, knowing that his sentence was gonna be up, he'd already been. When he was convicted, he'd already been in jail for 375 days, so that was taken into account. So.

[Michelle Laurie]

So he'd already done a year he'd

[Alesha]

already done a year. So then there was another, you know, and after those, the three years after the court case, I'm thinking, oh, is he gonna apply? At the start, he was saying that he didn't do it. It was clear that he did. And he then ended up taking a lesser charge. In the six years, I think the lesser charge was. Was just rape, whereas the other one was, I think it was penetration of a child under 10.

[Michelle Laurie]

Oh, God.

[Alesha]

Yeah.

[Michelle Laurie]

Right.

[Alesha]

And the court's just, you know, prosecution just accepted that I don't get a choice in what's. No. I'm just told what they're going to do, so. And it also speeds up the case. It means that there's no trial. Know, they try and paint it, that it's going to be easier for me because I'm not going to have to go through a trial where it's cheaper. Yeah, exactly. That's. That's all it is. It's just about money and everyone can

[Michelle Laurie]

get on with their next case and.

[Alesha]

Yep, exactly. So, you know, you start to think, oh, why isn't he applying for parole? He just never did. Which I found quite strange. Yeah, Maybe he was more comfortable, you know, jail. Some people, we all think that it's a horrible place for a lot of people. It's quite comfortable.

[Michelle Laurie]

Yep.

[Alesha]

You don't have to pay bills, you don't have to pay rent. You don't have to worry about where you're living. You get your food all day. You don't have to cook.

[Michelle Laurie]

Had he had a history of incarceration, had he been in jail before? Yeah, yeah, okay. Yeah, certainly. Yeah. We've heard stories of people who.

[Alesha]

Who actually try and get back, but you don't really hear of sex offenders doing that.

[Michelle Laurie]

No, you don't.

[Alesha]

Generally, you know, people that may be stealing cars or. Yeah, things like that. He had a family. I believe that he was separated at the time he was arrested, but he's got kids that I believe he was in contact with. Facebook showed that he was.

[Michelle Laurie]

Well, that's a good. An interesting point.

[Alesha]

Yeah.

[Michelle Laurie]

Do you. You obviously do check his Facebook and things like that.

[Alesha]

Yeah, of course. Yeah, yeah, 100%. He just had another account. He's closed it now, but he. Well, or it's disappeared.

[Michelle Laurie]

And I'm sure people say to you, don't. Look, Alicia, just don't.

[Alesha]

How do not. People tell me it was only just recently. An old friend of mine who I got in contact with had said to me, like, you've just got to leave it like, let it go. I don't know how. I don't know how to let it go. You know, it's hard. He's out living his life now and I'm sitting in here recording a podcast in tears now, still talking about it 37 years later.

[Michelle Laurie]

If you'd like to talk to someone about abuse that's taken place in your life, no matter how long ago it happened, your GP is always a good place to start. If that's not going to work for you, you can contact 1-800-Respect on 1-800-737-732 or via their website, 1-800-Respect.org au or you can call Lifeline's 24 hour phone counselling service on 13, 11, 14. Is part of that, like fear. I'm just wondering when he's.

[Alesha]

Yes, he, he did actually get more of a sentence. So he, as I said, he was sentenced to the six years. I got notification in March of 2021 to say that he was going due to be released on 13 May. However, there was an application made to put him on an interim supervision order.

[Michelle Laurie]

Yeah. Explain that to us. So there's this staggered release. Right. It's designed to try and ease offenders back into.

[Alesha]

Back into the community. So they still posed him to be immediate to high risk of reoffending. Yeah.

[Michelle Laurie]

Wow.

[Alesha]

So which to me it just seems crazy. After six years in jail, he would have been given a lot of opportunities to, you know, do classes and things to therapy.

[Michelle Laurie]

Yep.

[Alesha]

To help him get over it. And I believe that that was the reason. One of the reasons why he may not have applied for parole was because he hadn't been active in any of them. So there was pretty much going to be no chance of him getting parole because he hadn't done some of the things that he was supposed to have done. Some of the courses, some of the classes, some of the therapy. So. Yeah. So he was then put on an interim supervision order, which was just for four months. So what that means is he doesn't get released just to let go. Just see you later, off you go. He gets put in what I call a farm jail.

[Michelle Laurie]

Yep.

[Alesha]

So it's where they have like their own little unit. They have to be back by 10pm and they can't leave until 7am so

[Michelle Laurie]

they can start trying to get a job and things like that.

[Alesha]

Yeah. So. And start reintegrating themselves into the community. He had. There were lots, there's lots of conditions on that, some of which are things like ankle monitoring and as I said, having to Be in at times he was not allowed to go near children, speak to children or anyone under the ages of 18.

[Michelle Laurie]

But you know, it's so frustrating. Like he was never allowed to rape children, actually.

[Alesha]

Exactly. Exactly.

[Michelle Laurie]

But he did.

[Alesha]

Yeah.

[Michelle Laurie]

And I can't get over you're saying that he was still classified as a high risk. That's making me physically sick.

[Alesha]

Yeah.

[Michelle Laurie]

Like I always think, well, if you reckon he's ready for release, move him in next to your place.

[Alesha]

Exactly.

[Michelle Laurie]

Or your grandkids house.

[Alesha]

Yeah. Have him right near your kids school.

[Michelle Laurie]

Yeah.

[Alesha]

Yep. So your kids are walking home and he's watching them and yeah.

[Michelle Laurie]

If he's, you know, you're calling him high risk on one hand, that's your level of certification that you've put on him and then putting it back. I know people often think I'm soft on offenders, like I am interested in talking to offenders, but I have this. I don't know what it is. Fear, fury about sex offenders.

[Alesha]

Sex offenders are the lowest of the

[Michelle Laurie]

low and I do get a bit like, lock em up, throw away. I don't want them out.

[Alesha]

Throw away.

[Michelle Laurie]

They've proven they can't live in society, you know.

[Alesha]

Yep. And they're going after our most vulnerable. Yeah. You know, these are children. You know, I look at my girls and as I said to you, they've never walked to and from school. Primary school.

[Michelle Laurie]

I bet, like me, you haven't had any partners since you've been a single mum.

[Alesha]

No.

[Michelle Laurie]

No.

[Alesha]

Because we hear these stories, right. We're like, I don't think I could.

[Michelle Laurie]

No, me neither.

[Alesha]

I don't think I could.

[Michelle Laurie]

No.

[Alesha]

The thought of bringing somebody else into

[Michelle Laurie]

the house because of these stories we hear.

[Alesha]

Yep.

[Michelle Laurie]

100% where women just don't, you know, would never guess what they've invited into

[Alesha]

their home, you know, and see so many people, you know, oh, I'm recently single. What are the date. What are the best dating apps? And I'm like, oh my gosh, if you have children, no way.

[Michelle Laurie]

My kids are 16 now and I am often furious with them because I think they've. They're not independent enough. But then I realize that's because I have never said, take these eggs to your nan's or go by yourself on the bus or the train.

[Alesha]

Exactly. Go and ride your bike around the block or go and visit your friend, go and walk to your friend's house. Now my kids have never done that. And it was funny, I said to my youngest daughter yesterday, and I said, I'm going in to Record a podcast. And they were like, oh, what about now? My eldest daughter knows, but my youngest doesn't. And time to let her know that, you know, some not nice things happen. And that's exactly what I said. I just said, look, when I was a little girl, somebody did something really horrible to me when I was walking home from school. And she just went, is that why I've never been able to walk to and from school?

[Michelle Laurie]

Did she?

[Alesha]

And I said, yeah, that's exactly right. That's why I've. And she has asked so many times, mummy, please can I ride to school? Mummy, please can I walk to school? And it was like, no, no, no. I would let her. I would drive closer to the school and I would take her bike in the boot of my car and I'd say, okay, off you can go now. And I would drive up and I would watch her until she got to the school.

[Michelle Laurie]

Yeah. Trying to give her the experience of it.

[Alesha]

Yeah. But giving her a little bit of independence and, you know, and it's sad that my kids have missed out on that.

[Michelle Laurie]

Well, it is. But it's sad also that your life has been haunted by it.

[Alesha]

I think what's even harder for me is my children have suffered because of what happened to me.

[Michelle Laurie]

Well, that's called generational trauma.

[Alesha]

Yeah. Yeah. 100%. And it's not fair on them. They don't deserve it. They. You know, But I want to keep them safe.

[Michelle Laurie]

Yeah. And you do have a distorted worldview, and that was given to you by this.

[Alesha]

100%. 100%. And I. I hope he listens to this, because I want him to know it's not just what he did back to me in 1989. Like, this has affected me for my whole life. It's affected my girl's life. It's affected just about every past relationship that I've ever had. This is not an easy road to walk down.

[Michelle Laurie]

No. And I often think about your mum when you told the story, and I remember the part where she found pine needles in your clothes. I mean, that's just.

[Alesha]

Yeah.

[Michelle Laurie]

So difficult to think about. And. And then she jumped in her car.

[Alesha]

Yeah.

[Michelle Laurie]

And went looking for this bloke.

[Alesha]

Yeah.

[Michelle Laurie]

What a warrior woman. But again, everything that you're talking about, trying to protect your children, she must have felt as though she failed.

[Alesha]

Failed. Yeah.

[Michelle Laurie]

For the rest of her life. So. So many lives.

[Alesha]

Yeah. Yeah. This man has sent my sister, my brother, you know, everybody. My brother. The fact that he leaded me away, or he led me away because he wanted to ask me questions about my brother. You know, he must have had guilt. Maybe there.

[Michelle Laurie]

Well, that's the thing. Everyone feels guilty and it's. There's only one person who's guilty.

[Alesha]

Exactly. And I don't think he feels any guilt. So. Yeah. So he was put on that four month interim supervision order in 2021. Yep. After the four months. And this is the thing as well, is that I have been involved in all of the court cases. For me, that gives me power. I'm also. I like to know the ins and outs of everything and that's, I think, how my brain processes. If I wasn't involved in the court case, all I get told is the result.

[Michelle Laurie]

Yeah.

[Alesha]

I want to know how they came to whatever result it is. So April 27th of 2021, that was obviously during COVID so everything was shut down. And that was via Zoom. Again, as I said, I like to be in the court cases because if I wasn't, I wouldn't have known. His other crimes. Oh, they were things like stalking. He was taking exploitation material and doing sex acts while this child was lying face down on a bed.

[Michelle Laurie]

So he's not coming across as a reformed character?

[Alesha]

No, not at all.

[Michelle Laurie]

It doesn't appear that his behaviour's changed at all, let alone improved.

[Alesha]

No.

[Michelle Laurie]

What a history.

[Alesha]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Michelle Laurie]

Queensland now has a sex offenders registry, doesn't it? Like a public sex offender pregnancy.

[Alesha]

Yeah. Apparently it's not that easy to actually get the information from it. That's actually something that I would love to know. Is, is he on that?

[Michelle Laurie]

That's what I'm wondering.

[Alesha]

He's on a sex offender register. Victorian sex offender register. That was part of his conviction, was 15 years.

[Michelle Laurie]

And again, why does that have an end date?

[Alesha]

Exactly.

[Michelle Laurie]

I've never understood that.

[Alesha]

Do they just figure that after 15 years he's going to be okay? Yeah, he's. He's proven that he's not. Because after 1989 he's gone on again and reoffended. So what's to say that in another 15 years he's not going to again? And he's only young. He was. It was two days before his 21st birthday when he raped me. So do the math. Yeah, I don't know. But he's only. He's not that old.

[Michelle Laurie]

No. And as we said, he doesn't seem to be reforming himself. He doesn't. His behavior doesn't appear to be improving.

[Alesha]

No. They had their criminal psychologist who had been seeing him. There was a prosecution and the defendant, the prosecution one was fantastic. Like the way he said that he would avoid crimes again, was he just not have contact with children?

[Michelle Laurie]

Yeah. Because they're not around everywhere.

[Alesha]

You're going to go to the supermarket when there's no children in there, you're going to go to the shops when there's no children there. Maybe accidentally walk past a primary school and there's not gonna be children outside

[Michelle Laurie]

because as you said, I mean, he was just lived in the street behind you or whatever was sitting on his fence when he.

[Alesha]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's right. So then back In September of 2021, we went back to court about putting a permanent supervision order in place. So this was just a four month temporary one and then he was put on a four year supervision order.

[Michelle Laurie]

Wow. Yeah, that's good, right?

[Alesha]

Yeah, yeah. 100%.

[Michelle Laurie]

Yeah. After a six year sentence, it's 80% of that tacked on the end in supervision is unreal.

[Alesha]

But again, that just goes to show that he had a medium to high risk of reoffending.

[Michelle Laurie]

Yes, it does, yeah.

[Alesha]

So I am, I'm so grateful that this was put in place because it gave me another four years where I could sleep a little bit easier, I guess.

[Michelle Laurie]

Yeah. And it's. It also you've made me realise it does, it's significant from the court. It is the court saying something. Yeah. About this person 100% and their level of trust in him.

[Alesha]

But then it's also what he's saying, like. Yes, okay. The court are saying that yes, he's still a high risk but he's not done anything to help himself.

[Michelle Laurie]

Yeah.

[Alesha]

In the jail.

[Michelle Laurie]

Yeah.

[Alesha]

And that's again why they're saying it. So whilst you're locked up for six years, wouldn't you try and make yourself better? Wouldn't you try and find a way to fight those urges or.

[Michelle Laurie]

And at the very least. Cause it would look good.

[Alesha]

100%.

[Michelle Laurie]

Right. I mean I've met a lot of blokes who said, oh, you do the anger management thing, you just do it, you get stuck.

[Alesha]

Exactly. Yep. You can have that on your resume. Oh, I've done the anger management course. I've tried. I've, you know, I've done all this

[Michelle Laurie]

attitude about a bloke who goes, no, I'm not doing any of those things. Yeah. Can't be bothered whose offences are so serious.

[Alesha]

Yeah. Is it because he doesn't believe his offenses are that serious? Maybe. As I said, if he's listening, I hope he really does now. I hope his family do. I hope his family really do so, yeah, so as I said, he's put on this four year. He spent most of it there. So then I wasn't contacted again until October 2023. So you just go living your life, you know, best you can. And it was for review of the supervision order. So I guess we went back to court. And this time this was actually quite different. So it was meant to happen on the 16th of October, but then that was vacated, and it was then relisted for the 18th of December. So it's all these times that you get contacted by them. Oh, yep, this is going to happen here. Oh, no. Now it's been delayed to here. And this has happened numerous times, especially over the past four years. So on the 18th of December, we went back into court. So went to the actual county court. We're out of COVID I went there. Victims register lady met me at the court, and I knew he was not in custody, but it just didn't quite register. I guess when we got up to whatever level it was at the county court, we, you know, saw that the courtroom was over there. And we went and sat in this spot. And I could see there was all these people outside the court, not sort of thinking, oh, what are they all here for? It's a bit strange. Anyway, when it was time to go into the courtroom, first thing I noticed when I walked into court was there was a room, the door that I had just walked through. And then there was only one other door. And I'm thinking to myself, that's the door that the judge is going to come out of. Surely he's not going to come out of the same door the judge is. And I'm, you know, thinking all these things in my head. Anyway, I sit down and there was two guys sitting in front of me, an elderly gentleman. The elderly gentleman I recognized straight away as his dad. And I nudged the victim's register next to me, and I'm like, oh, my God, that's his dad. There was two women in the back of the court, and I'm assuming that they were within that group of people. So I'm assuming that maybe they were his dad, daughters, or, you know, other family. And I'm sitting there and I'm thinking, where's he gonna come out of? Next thing, I've just gone, oh, my gosh, it's him. He was sitting directly in front of

[Michelle Laurie]

me next to his dad.

[Alesha]

Yeah. And then it just hit me. He's not in custody anymore. He's not gonna come out of the back room. Like he used to. With handcuffs on. He was sitting directly in front of me, and I've looked down and I could see his ankle. And I could literally. I nudged the victim's register lady. And I'm like, it's him, it's him. I could put my foot up and kick the back of his chair. That's how close we were. And it was just. Yeah, I was gobsmacked. That's weird. And I was so shocked.

[Michelle Laurie]

A lot of people would have, like. A lot of people would have gone off. I'm all continually shocked at how people control themselves in courtrooms, in environments where they're so close to their offender or the offender of their family member. I just. I just think it's weird how they let that happen.

[Alesha]

I had to. Yeah, I know. And I think that's why the victims register lady, like, I was like, oh, you don't need to come to court. And she's like, no, no, no, I'll meet you at the front. I'm like, no, no, no, I'll be fine. And she's like, no, I'll meet you at the front. And I think it's almost. Yeah. To stop me from doing anything. Then we were sitting there. So we were going over the review. As I said, again, this is why I want to be in the courtroom, because I want to hear all of things. The defense had said that, and I believe it's because of the podcast that I did that. When he goes and orders his coffee from Starbucks, he changes his name. Isn't that a massive red flag? You've got a sex offender out in the world.

[Michelle Laurie]

He was registered for a reason.

[Alesha]

Yeah. And he is changing his name when he orders coffee. Where else is he changing his name? Is he changing his name when he meets a new partner? Is he changing his name when he gets a job? So, yeah. So we also found out that he wanted to move to Queensland, so he wanted the supervision order to end so he could move to Queensland. His dad was there to support him. I believe they were his sisters that were in court supporting him.

[Michelle Laurie]

Yeah.

[Alesha]

Have they got children?

[Michelle Laurie]

But again, this is systemic, isn't it? It's because we rely on families to take care of offenders when they get out of jail. We really do. And I feel like the worse the offence, the more we're relying on their family to come and get them. Give them a home, give them. You know, there's no state facility.

[Alesha]

No, I just. I don't. No. And you're never gonna know until you're there.

[Michelle Laurie]

Absolutely, are you?

[Alesha]

But I just think that if I was to have a son and he was to do something like this to a child, I don't think I could forgive him.

[Michelle Laurie]

I'd like to think I couldn't forgive him.

[Alesha]

To be 100% honest with you, 100%.

[Michelle Laurie]

I think I would be happier with myself if I stood my ground and said, no, there is no forgiveness for this. And then I think, God, can you do that?

[Alesha]

I know. Because. Yeah. You think about how much you love your children.

[Michelle Laurie]

Yeah.

[Alesha]

There has to be a line in the sand where you say, enough's enough.

[Michelle Laurie]

And I wonder how fearful they are every day of his intentions and his. You know, when you have a child who's on the sex registry.

[Alesha]

Yeah, exactly. Are you thinking every time he walks out the house, where's he going? What's he doing? Is he going to commit another crime?

[Michelle Laurie]

Because I get. I'm sure listeners have realised I get pretty irrational around this topic. You know, my common sense sort of goes out the window and I'm driven by fear. And so I think whomever I am in this equation, if I were the parent of the offender or the neighbour of the offender or the workmate of the offender, I would be.

[Alesha]

Imagine being a neighbour.

[Michelle Laurie]

Yeah. I would be so driven by fear. So I know for all those reasons, it's terrible that he's moved to Queensland and I feel that way, but I'm so glad. Yeah. Is it helping the fear factor?

[Alesha]

100%. And this is, again, I'll go back to that fear of walking into a supermarket and him being there. And that was almost what it was like at this. At court. I knew he was going to be there, but I didn't know he was going to be on my side of the chairs. But then also we stopped for a break and I said, being smoker, right. Want to go downstairs and have a cigarette? Well, he had the same idea. So I've stood up and he and his dad have stood up and we've walked, you know, along the aisle of chairs. Well, his dad's done the, you know, Here you go. You go first.

[Michelle Laurie]

After you met him.

[Alesha]

Yep. And I'm like, huh? Yeah, thanks. But then Sterling actually held the door open for me whilst I walked through it.

[Michelle Laurie]

I assume he didn't know who you were.

[Alesha]

He'd have to know.

[Michelle Laurie]

You think he did?

[Alesha]

He'd have to know who else would be sitting in there. And he's seen me at every. I've been there at every single one. He'd have to know it was me.

[Michelle Laurie]

Again, it's one of those things about court that we don't realise, the awkwardness, socially, of a lot of it. Like, you do have opposing parties meeting downstairs for a cigarette.

[Alesha]

Yeah. You know, that was a funny thing that I found in when we went, you know, first back in 2016, went to court here, I walk in and there's, you know, prosecution and defence both chatting and laughing and joking with each other. And then they get on opposite sides of the table and they're fighting against each other.

[Michelle Laurie]

I know.

[Alesha]

And then I hear that apparently they go and all have drinks together afterwards, you know, at the local bar.

[Michelle Laurie]

And you've got to feel like, well, it's not a game for me, it's my life. And it's not a game for them either. But you can see it from their perspective. But at the same time, it's hard to swallow, isn't it?

[Alesha]

100%. I'm like, you should be hating him. I want you to hate this guy.

[Michelle Laurie]

Yes, yes.

[Alesha]

Don't be laughing and joking with him. I want you to, you know, defeat him. That's not how it works. It's. Yeah, it's a very funny system. So, as I said, he wanted to get out, but it was looking like the case. That hearing was not really going to go anywhere and it was going to be adjourned. They needed more information. So when we went down, I had a cigarette. I actually said to the victim's register lady, I said, you know what? I think I'm just going to go home. I've heard what I wanted to hear. I'm just going to head off now. And so, of course, she won't let me go by myself. My car's parked in the car park next to the county court. So she's like, I'll walk you up to your car. I'm like, no, no, no, I'm fine. She's like, no, I'll walk you up to your car. So we went to go into the car park and I was a little bit confused when I came out, not thinking, right, we've walked through this door and gone to the lifts and we realized that we'd gone to the lifts of actually the building next door and not the car park. And at the bottom of that building there's a cafe. So as we've walked back out from the lifts that we thought were the ones to get us to the car park, he's sitting in the cafe with his dad and his sisters, just having a bite to eat. And that really was my moment of. He is in the wild. He's out here in society, and I could bump into him anywhere.

[Michelle Laurie]

He's able to have a coffee just like a normal person in a cafe.

[Alesha]

Exactly. And here I am looking at all the other people sitting in, and I just. I would have loved to have yelled out, he's a rapist. Like, here we go. You're all sitting around enjoying your coffees while you've got a rapist sitting next to you. It was just. Yeah, so that was. Yeah, that was a bit full on. That was hard to. Hard to swallow and hard to handle because as I said, I just. Every other time he had been in custody, he'd been in handcuffs or, you know, he was sitting in a room with his tracksuit on, you know, and I could see that there was a security guard sitting watching him the whole time. Whereas this time he wasn't.

[Michelle Laurie]

He was literally in the wild.

[Alesha]

Yep, in the wild. So that was pretty much then, I guess, a wasted court session, I felt. Cause we didn't really find out anything. There wasn't really much news. As I said, I left early.

[Michelle Laurie]

Well, you're gonna get less and less mean.

[Alesha]

Well, now I get nothing.

[Michelle Laurie]

Yeah, right. You're not even. You can't even find him on Facebook anymore. So what's. What are your thoughts about that? I mean, coping with not knowing where he is.

[Alesha]

I look at the photo of him often.

[Michelle Laurie]

Do you?

[Alesha]

Yeah.

[Michelle Laurie]

What photo?

[Alesha]

I've got recent photos of him.

[Michelle Laurie]

Oh, wow.

[Alesha]

That were on Facebook. Because I don't want to forget what he looks like. Yeah, Yeah. I really. Yeah, I want to know. And I guess that was the other thing with going to court, is seeing him. He changed a lot over those years, you know, facial hair, no facial hair. He was quite overweight at one stage. Now he's not.

[Michelle Laurie]

You don't want to forget what he looks like. In case.

[Alesha]

In case I bump into him? Yeah, in case I bump into him.

[Michelle Laurie]

So your hypervigilance is very apparent with. And around him. Specifically, how is it in life, in the world? I mean, do you feel like you're always on the edge of 100%? Yeah.

[Alesha]

Yeah, 100%. And I don't know why I'm not scared of him.

[Michelle Laurie]

Yeah, because he attacks children.

[Alesha]

Exactly.

[Michelle Laurie]

I mean, we know that you and I, for me, you and I are safe from this guy. Because he wouldn't have the balls.

[Alesha]

Exactly. Yeah. And that's what I also think as well. You know, they've put in, oh, well, we don't want her. Him contacting her. I'd love it. If he did. Like, I'd. I'd love it if he did.

[Michelle Laurie]

Well, this is what I'm saying about your hyper. Vigilance is very common in PTSD sufferers. It's just this feeling of constantly being on the edge of disaster, on the edge of something.

[Alesha]

But then I also look at other men and wonder, could you do that? You know?

[Michelle Laurie]

Yeah.

[Alesha]

And that will never stop.

[Michelle Laurie]

No.

[Alesha]

As I said, I would never have another relationship with a man because I'd be so worried that something had happened to the kids.

[Michelle Laurie]

Does it come up in professional situations with doctors with, like.

[Alesha]

Not so much. It should because it's anybody. But I really mainly see females and that's not necessarily by choice, but I guess it's just the way that it's worked, you know, my GP's are female.

[Michelle Laurie]

Do you think. Do you think it is by choice just so happens that everyone I see is a female? Because I'm the same. And I had to say to myself,

[Alesha]

I never take my kids to see a male doctor.

[Michelle Laurie]

Right.

[Alesha]

Yeah. Maybe if it was like, oh, yeah, I know what's wrong with them and I just need a medical certificate or I just, you know, But I wouldn't. If it was anything to do with them having to undress or anything like that, then no, no way.

[Michelle Laurie]

I just realized that about myself recently. Our GP is a man, but I just realized how many women I surround myself with in all sorts of ways. And I thought, that's gotta be deliberate. That's gotta be somewhere, a level. It's awful because it's not. I know that you like. I know that that's unreasonable to a large degree and we don't hate men and all those things, but when a fear is sparked inside of you, it's really hard to dampen it down. And the fear that was sparked in you is unbelievable.

[Alesha]

And I think because the nature and like, as I said, this is. It's going to affect me until the day that I die. I don't want to try and have something else. Like, I know how serious it is and how hard it is to deal with. Try not to let yourself that happen to yourself again. Do you know what I mean?

[Michelle Laurie]

Yeah. But also your daughters. You've got daughters. I've got a daughter. And I often think to myself, God, the poor bastard she brings home to say, mum, I'm in love with this guy. And my suspicions are so overwhelming.

[Alesha]

Whereas for me, my daughter has brought home, look, it was year seven, so it was, you know, you know, it was friends. That's A boy type thing.

[Michelle Laurie]

Yeah.

[Alesha]

My youngest is. Also had a little boyfriend in primary school. I'm not scared of the kids.

[Michelle Laurie]

Yeah.

[Alesha]

That are their age.

[Michelle Laurie]

Yeah. But what about when they're adults, your daughters?

[Alesha]

That's scary. My. My biggest fear is now that my eldest is wanting to go out in the world, now she's wanting to catch buses and go to places. Only just on Sunday. Yesterday, she went to the beach with a friend and when they were coming home, her friend had a towel around it and was putting shorts on. And apparently there was a guy with a walker, an old man with a walker that kept looking. And my daughter grabbed her friend and said, come on, let's go. And another guy actually stood up and was like, hey, mate, that's so inappropriate. Like, get going.

[Michelle Laurie]

Brilliant.

[Alesha]

And I know I said to my daughter, I'm like, oh, my gosh, I wish she apparently thanked him, was like, thank you, and went off with her friend. And it's what she's wearing. And that's one thing. I think I even said it back in the other, you should be able to go out wearing whatever you want and not have a fear. But. And this is what I tell my daughter all the time, I'm not worried about you, I'm worried about them.

[Michelle Laurie]

Yep. But, bub, you were wearing a purple tracksuit.

[Alesha]

Exactly.

[Michelle Laurie]

A little baby purple tracksuit.

[Alesha]

Yep. Yep. So it was in December that we had that. The review. Then we heard again from the court on the 14th of February of 2025, and there was a court date sent for another review of the supervision order in April. So he was placed on that supervision order for four years. I was not sure what the outcome was going to be. But from going to court, which we went to in May, it looked to me like the prosecution, actually, it seemed like they wanted it extended. They had again, their criminal psychologist, the same one that has worked with him the whole way through. She was like, no, he's not a great guy. Whereas the defence is criminal, you know, of course, was like, oh, he's not that bad. He had said that he's. He had a low chance of reoffending, where she's like, no, it's moderate to high chance of reoffending. And she was still saying that back then. So I was really hopeful that we were, you know, it was going to be extended. And then I'd also found out that, you know, he was enjoying going to trivia nights and going to see live music and. But he hadn't attempted to get a job because he thought that, wow, what's the point in getting a job? Because I want to move back to Queensland. And that was. That was then adjourned. So didn't hear anything until the 27th of May that I get an email and it was the outcome of the supervision order review. So there was no going back to court as we normally would have. And I just received an email to say, the victim's register have been informed that the judge has revoked the offender's supervision order, which means he's no longer subject to the supervision order, which was previously due to expire on 22nd September. So for whatever reason, the judge just revoked it.

[Michelle Laurie]

So what happens now? I think I know the answer to this question, but I gotta ask anyway. Are you informed if he offends again? Like, I don't believe so, no. I don't think so, no. So now it's like your case is over, it's done. So they don't have to alert you if he moves back to Melbourne or.

[Alesha]

They don't. I'm not on the victim's register anymore. It was four years of not really having to worry, knowing that he was in jail and then was the thought of, oh, hang on a minute. Yeah, he's in jail, but one day he's going to come out. And that, as I said, that was something that I never had thought of.

[Michelle Laurie]

Now, because you put so much energy into getting him there.

[Alesha]

Yeah, yeah. That, you know he's going to be released. You know that. I mean, six years. Yeah, it's great. And it's. I. I appreciate the fact that a lot of offenders don't get that long and I guess I should be grateful for that, but it's no justice.

[Michelle Laurie]

No, I don't think you should be grateful. I think, yeah, I understand what you're saying.

[Alesha]

Yeah.

[Michelle Laurie]

But I think gratitude's pushing it in terms of what you owe anybody.

[Alesha]

Exactly. I don't want this, me telling my story to turn anybody off, wanting to report. Report.

[Michelle Laurie]

Yeah, that's a really good point. Yeah.

[Alesha]

I don't want this. Like, it hasn't been a fun experience. I wouldn't wish it on anybody, but this is the system and people need to know because I had no idea. And as I said, I don't want it. I really, really want to stress that I don't want to turn anybody off because it is so important to report. Yes, he's only on the sex offender register for 15 years, but he's on a sex offender register for 15 years

[Michelle Laurie]

and he did do six years in jail.

[Alesha]

Exactly and then four years on a

[Michelle Laurie]

supervision order, which feels like not enough. But then I've never been in jail for six years, so I imagine it's pretty shit.

[Alesha]

Well, think of all the things that he's missed out on with his family.

[Michelle Laurie]

That's right. Yeah.

[Alesha]

You know, I hope that he did think about what he had done while he was in there and regretted doing it. Whether he did or not, I don't know, but.

[Michelle Laurie]

Well, he knows he went to jail for it and as you said, missed out on all those years with his

[Alesha]

family and friends and career and whatever

[Michelle Laurie]

else he could have been doing in the world. Well, you know what else, though? Like his parents, his dad and his sisters, whoever else was there. Yes, they were there. But they know.

[Alesha]

Yeah. 100%.

[Michelle Laurie]

Like his dad knows what he did. I. I couldn't imagine living with that either, could I, or my siblings knowing that I had committed those offenses.

[Alesha]

We would never commit those offenses. So we don't ever have to. You know, and this is you. It's so hard because you can't put yourself.

[Michelle Laurie]

No, you can't. No. We can't imagine what he was thinking or what he is thinking because it's.

[Alesha]

And I think that's why we all love true crime so much, because it's so unbelievable. It's so what? Like, you could never imagine doing that.

[Michelle Laurie]

It's like when people talk about big recent crimes and they'll go, why would she do that? Yeah, why would he do that? And I'm like, who knows, mate? They don't think the same way.

[Alesha]

Exactly.

[Michelle Laurie]

I think. Or you think? Exactly. Right.

[Alesha]

They don't have the same mindset.

[Michelle Laurie]

No. It makes sense in some people's brains, these things.

[Alesha]

This is the other thing that really bothers me. I couldn't imagine ever doing that to a child because I know what it's like. Other people don't, but they still couldn't imagine doing it to a child. But I don't have that choice. I was seven. I. The biggest thing that I get angry and upset about, and with all of the mental health struggles that I've had, I never got to know the person who I was supposed to be.

[Michelle Laurie]

Yeah.

[Alesha]

I've always been the girl that was raped. And so as I said, when I say that, I couldn't ever imagine doing something like that to a child that's coming from a place of knowing what it's like.

[Michelle Laurie]

Yeah. And for me, it's not for me, it's hypothetical. For me, it's like I can't even imagine it yeah. At all.

[Alesha]

Yeah.

[Michelle Laurie]

Whereas you have. Yeah. A memory.

[Alesha]

Yeah. And I think, I believe I said in the other podcast, like, I'm actually glad that it happened now, the court, and not when I was younger, because I don't think I could have appreciated it when I was younger, but I don't think I appreciate it now either.

[Michelle Laurie]

No.

[Alesha]

And you'll never know something that I look back on and go, oh, yay, I'm so glad I went through court as an adult. No, I wish I never had to go through it at all, but I didn't get a choice. It's almost like, Like I wonder, would I have had all of the mental health struggles if this didn't happen to me? And that's, I think, what hurts the most. Yeah. Would I be in the situation that I am now, you know, single mum,

[Michelle Laurie]

barely scraping by, you know, old coppers. And lots of people say to us, it's all about the offender. In Australia, it's all about the offender.

[Alesha]

And this is my biggest problem is. It is.

[Michelle Laurie]

Well, what you've just said is that you're not officially even a victim anymore. No, because he's not an offender now because he's done his time and that's crazy.

[Alesha]

And I think about every. All the tools that he would have been offered in jail. I've been offered nothing. I received victims crime payout. When I was 10, I was awarded $10,000 and supposedly that's supposed to last me the rest of my life. I got it when I was 18 and pretty much blew it.

[Michelle Laurie]

And you get. Well and I mean, most of us would.

[Alesha]

Exactly.

[Michelle Laurie]

And also, you know, the idea of your mental health costs for the rest of your life, I can't even. Have you ever tried to add that up and get a number?

[Alesha]

No. I'd love to even add up the number of people that I've seen over the years. The problem that I have now is under the mental health care plan, I get 10 appointments a year. And with what's my. How my mental health has been at the end of last year and the start of this year, I've only got four left for the year.

[Michelle Laurie]

It's bullshit, isn't it?

[Alesha]

We're just into March and I've got four left for the year. Unless you have money, it is almost impossible to get help unless I could pay for it myself. I have never had proper trauma informed counseling before and that's all I want and I can't get it. I mean, I've sat there with a psychologist before that sat there and Cried with me. And whilst that's lovely, I'm like, you shouldn't be crying, like, do you know what I mean?

[Michelle Laurie]

People have told me before that they end up, like, consoling the kiss.

[Alesha]

Yeah, 100%. And I'm there going, it's okay. Like, I'm okay, you know, I'm sorry to upset you. And it's like, hang on a minute.

[Michelle Laurie]

That's not what you need. It costs a lot of money to be a victim. Your ability to work.

[Alesha]

Yep. I haven't worked since May last year. Yeah, I haven't worked. I'm living off Centrelink at the moment. And in fact, I'm not living. I'm struggling every day. I'm having to get food vouchers. Never in my life did I think that I would be in that situation. I've been under the cap team, the crisis assessment team at the hospital twice in the last few years. I have dentures at the front now. And I went with no, you know, front teeth for months. And that was all through the community dentist. You know, I wonder if he got a toothache in jail.

[Michelle Laurie]

They fix it.

[Alesha]

Yep. Yeah, he would have seen a dentist straight away.

[Michelle Laurie]

Yeah.

[Alesha]

He's had all this access to all these people that could help change him. I've had access to no one. Victims of crime is really, really needs to look at changing their system. This is almost like it's being relived again. I'm having to go through it all again from 2014 up until now. We now know there is so many more cold cases that are being solved.

[Michelle Laurie]

Absolutely.

[Alesha]

We know now how much this affects people later in life. Yeah, but we're not changing the system. In fact, from what I hear, the system's actually getting even harder to access money. Exactly.

[Michelle Laurie]

Yeah.

[Alesha]

I mean, but then it costs between 150 to $200,000 to keep a prisoner in jail for a year. He was in jail for six years and I get $10,000. I said only the other day, I would have got so much more help if I was the offender. And is he worrying about this every day? Is he sitting there in tears every time he hears a news story? Has he stopped his kids from walking to and from school? Are his kids suffering because mum's sleeping on the couch because she's so depressed she can't move? Is he struggling at the moment now? And is he having to get food vouchers? Is he worried about how he's gonna pay his next lot of $500 a week in rent?

[Michelle Laurie]

It's so unfair. Thanks for joining us on Australian True Crime. You can watch today's episode on our YouTube channel. There's a link in the show Notes and there are also links to our Spotify playlists. If you need support after listening to this podcast, you can call Lifeline on 131114 or contact 1-800-Respect on 1-800-737-732 or 1-800-Respect. Org AU. Indigenous Australians can contact 13 YARN on 139276 or 13 yarn.org AU.

[Alesha]

The producers of this podcast recognise the traditional owners of the land on which it's recorded. They pay respect to the Aboriginal elders past, present and those emerging.