Shortcut: I Was Sexually Assaulted By A Stranger When I Was 7 *Re-Issue*

Summary

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Australian True Crime – Shortcut: I Was Sexually Assaulted By A Stranger When I Was 7 Re-Issue

Host: Meshel Laurie

Guest: Alesha

Date: March 5, 2026

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Episode Overview

This emotionally powerful episode is a re-issue of a previous conversation with Alesha, a survivor of childhood sexual assault. At seven years old, Alesha was abducted on her walk home from school, assaulted, and managed to escape. Despite reporting the event immediately, her case went cold for 26 years until her determination led police to finally identify and convict her attacker. The episode offers Alesha’s first-hand account of the assault, its aftermath, her journey toward justice, and her reflections on survival and advocacy. The conversation is candid, empathetic, and may be confronting for some listeners.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Alesha’s Early Life and the Day of the Assault

• Setting the Scene (02:02 – 06:51)
  • Alesha describes her daily journey from school, crossing main roads, past a hospital, and by a milk bar.
  • Two men near the milk bar; one begins following her with a fabricated story about working for the council and knowing about her and her brother’s bikes.
  • Alesha explains her own thoughts at the time: “I look back now and I think, why did you go? Like, I knew that he didn't work for the council, but I just went, okay.” (03:32 – Alesha)
  • Meshel and Alesha discuss how societal expectations of obedience to adults can override ‘stranger danger’ teachings (03:41 – 04:30).
  • The attacker, Sterling Bauer, leads her toward a local “haunted house,” then into a pine plantation near the kindergarten she had attended.

The Attack & Immediate Aftermath

• The Assault (06:13 – 08:59)
  • The attacker coerces Alesha over a fence, isolates her, and sexually assaults her.
  • Alesha recalls, “He told me to lay down on the ground. And that’s when he did what he did.” (06:51 – Alesha)
  • Powerful, fragmented memories surface: seeing his thighs, collecting pine needles as evidence, and the impact of reading her own statement years later.
  • Direct threats: “He said to me when he was leaving…if you tell anyone, I will kill you.” (07:17 – Alesha)
  • Alesha’s immediate reaction was to flee, screaming all the way home. Her family and community rally, but the experience is traumatic for all, especially her sister who remembers, “she just pulled my pants down and she said pine needles just went everywhere.” (08:59 – Alesha quoting her sister)
  • First interactions with police: collecting evidence, completing a sketch, but no counseling or clear support services available at that time.

Long-Term Impact and Coping

• Living with Trauma (09:12 – 13:57)
  • Trauma was rarely discussed openly in her family, though it was never forbidden.
  • Alesha struggled through adolescence, battling depression and dropping out of school: “I'm sure that obviously there was issues much further on.” (10:32 – Alesha)
  • No justice for years, as the case went cold: “I was just going on living my life believing that he would never be caught.” (11:11 – Alesha)

Reviving the Case & Achieving Justice

• Persistence and Breakthrough (13:57 – 16:52)
  • In 2014, Alesha contacts police to reopen her case, facing initial skepticism until finding a sympathetic officer.
  • DNA evidence was recovered after 27 years, ultimately matching with a known perpetrator in the system.
    • “He goes, I just wanted to let you know that we’ve got a match.” (13:59 – Detective, relayed by Alesha)
  • Discovery that her attacker lived in the next street: “That corner that he picked me up on, he actually lived in the block of units on that corner. So that's how he knew me.” (15:20 – Alesha)
  • Prosecution: The attacker pleads guilty to rape, receives a six-year sentence (four non-parole), and is placed on the sex offender register for 15 years.

Reflections on Survival, Shame, and Advocacy

• Speaking Out and Survivor’s Guilt (16:52 – 18:15)
  • Alesha reflects on her identity: “I'm 36 years old. This is all I know. I have no idea the type of person I would be today had this not happened to me. And that's really unfair.” (17:05 – Alesha)
  • Confronts shame and stigma victims often carry:
    • “Any crime against a child is just so unforgivable. And that's probably because I am one.” (16:52 – Alesha)
    • “You didn't ask for this to be happened. I didn’t ask for this to happen, so why should I be ashamed of it? He's the one that should be ashamed.” (17:21 – Alesha)
  • Host Meshel Laurie praises Alesha’s courage: “I think you’ve done a lot to help people in coming on the show…you’ve given them the confidence to seek help.” (17:49 – Meshel Laurie)
  • Alesha, on the impact of her disclosure: “If one person did, then this has been worth it.” (18:06 – Alesha)
  • The host reminds listeners: “Let’s not forget you took a rapist off the street for at least a couple of years, babe. So thank you for that.” (18:15 – Meshel Laurie)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Obedience and Societal Expectations

  • “As much as we were taught stranger danger, at the same time our parents taught us respect for adults.” (04:19 – Meshel Laurie)

• Immediate Emotional Fallout

  • “I lost my innocence that day.” (09:07 – Alesha)
  • “Gidmitty doesn’t live here anymore. That little Gimme's not here anymore. It’s been taken away.” (09:25 – Alesha, recounting her own words as a child)

• On Facing the Justice System

  • “I can remember going to Target because I had to go and pick out his clothes…and then we had to go and get my clothes because there was also one of those neighborhood watch… reenactments.” (09:35 – Alesha)

• Case Breakthrough

  • “We have pulled DNA off it. And he goes, I just wanted to let you know that we’ve got a match.” (13:59 – Detective via Alesha)

• Survivor’s Message

  • “You didn't ask for this to be happened...so why should I be ashamed of it? He's the one that should be ashamed.” (17:21 – Alesha)
  • “If one person did [seek help], then this has been worth it.” (18:06 – Alesha)

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Key Timestamps

• 02:02: Alesha narrates her childhood walk home and the first encounter with her attacker.
• 06:13: The assault and immediate aftermath.
• 08:22: Alesha flees home, family’s response, and initial police involvement.
• 13:57: The case is reopened after 26 years; the DNA breakthrough.
• 15:20: The realization that the perpetrator lived in the neighborhood.
• 16:52: Reflections on sentencing, justice, and the enduring effects of trauma.
• 17:21: Alesha confronts shame and stigma.
• 18:06: Reflections on advocacy and helping other survivors.

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Tone & Language

This episode is deeply personal, frank, and filled with both vulnerability and strength. Alesha’s voice is direct but compassionate—her story is told with clarity, emotion, and a survivor’s resolve. Meshel Laurie creates a supportive, validating space, gently guiding the conversation and underscoring the importance of speaking out.

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Support Resources

• Lifeline: 13 11 14
• 1-800-Respect: 1800 737 732, www.1800respect.org.au
• 13 Yarn (Indigenous support): 13 92 76, www.13yarn.org.au

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Trigger Warning: This episode contains distressing details of child sexual assault and its aftermath. If you need support, please refer to the helplines above.

Transcript

[A]

The following podcast contains accounts of child sexual assault. Listener discretion is advised. This is Australian True Crime with Michelle Laurie. Back in 2018, we recorded an episode of the podcast with Alesha. When Alesha was seven years old, she was abducted by a stranger on her way home from school and sexually assaulted. She told her mother immediately, and police began investigating. But the case went cold and stayed that way for 26 years. In 2014, Alesha contacted police to ask for a review of her case, and as a result, her offender was caught and convicted. In the next episode of Australian True Crime, released on Monday, Alicia joins us again to give us an update, but today we're replaying that first conversation to refresh your memory. 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.

[B]

At vrbo, we understand that even the best of plans sometimes need a little support. So we plan for the plot twists. Every booking is automatically backed by our VRBO Care guarantee, giving you confidence from the very start. Whenever you need help, it's ready before your stay, through the moments in between and after your trip. Because a great trip starts with peace of mind and maybe a good playlist, but we've got the peace of mind part covered. I was 7 years old and I was walking home from school. We lived quite close to the school, but I had to cross quite a few main roads. And we also lived next to a hospital or opposite a hospital. So I used to cut through the car park of the hospital to get to this corner. Then I'd walk up and to cross the main road. There was three crossing ladies. So I'd cross with the three crossing ladies, pass a milk bar, and then walk down another street to get to school. So it was a bit of a walk.

[A]

What year was this?

[B]

Sorry, 1989. Okay, so walking. I was walking home from school this day, and as I came up to the milk bar, there was two guys standing near a tree. And I vividly remember one was leaning up against the tree and the other one sort of had his arm up and was talking to him. I just didn't think much of them, just a couple of guys. And I did my walk across where the crossing ladies were. And there's also another part where you could actually go across. And you, you know, as young kids, it was jaywalking. Like, you could cut across. You didn't have to go where the traffic lights were. And, you know, as kids, we never did that. But I Noticed that one of the guys was actually doing that and it was a shortcut to get to the hospital. So I noticed him doing that, but again, didn't think anything of it. Walked up and as I got up to the corner, right where the hospital was, where I was getting close, where I'd cut through the car park, he started following me. He was sitting on a brick fence and I passed him and he started following me and then he got a little bit closer and he said, oh, excuse me, I was just wondering if I could ask you some questions about your brother. And he said, I work for the council. And he goes, you know, I've seen you guys around. I know your brother's got a blue racer push bike. You've got your red one.

[A]

Is that all true?

[B]

Yeah, yeah, that was true. Yeah. Because we did, as I said, we were out riding all the time. And yeah, I had this red bike and. And you know, he'd seen us, he said, I was wondering if you can come to my office and I can ask a few questions. And I knew, like, it's funny because I look back now and I think, why did you go? Like, I knew that he didn't work for the council, but I just went, okay. And he grabbed my arm and he started leading me.

[A]

Can I just.

[B]

Yeah, sorry.

[A]

No, no, no, it's okay.

[B]

I'll just go on so much here.

[A]

No, I don't want to interrupt your flow. Yeah, but I just do want to say, because just not for a one single second do I want you to say, why did I do that? Yeah, I don't. I just, you know, I just want

[B]

to make sure you like to think, oh, you, you know, you know why you did.

[A]

Because probably you're a really good little girl and an adult asked you to do something and, and I don't know about you, but at that age I was very obedient to do what I was told to do by adults.

[B]

That's right. And adults we like. My next door neighbour was Mrs. Or Auntie.

[A]

Same.

[B]

You never called adults by their first name.

[A]

So as much as I was told, stranger danger, and this is a well proven fact now, isn't it, that as much as we were taught stranger danger, at the same time our parents taught us respect for adults.

[B]

And so, yeah, so I went off with him and I can't really remember much of the conversation, but we passed the hospital and then, yeah, so we went up around the road, up around a corner, and there was, as kids growing up, we called the haunted house.

[A]

Yeah, we all had one of those in the neighborhood, didn't we?

[B]

Yeah. And this one was like the haunted house of haunted houses. It had massive, big pine trees at the front. They had a pool in the backyard. Cause, you know, sometimes we'd sneak up the driveway and the pool was green and murky, and there were little dogs, dogs in the house that had bark at the windows. And. But you never, like, we never ever saw anybody there. Never. But there were people that lived there. And anyway, he started leading me up their driveway. And I said to him, I'm like, why are you taking me up here? Now, on the other side of the fence to the haunted house, it backed onto a kindergarten or there was a big pine plantation, which then backed onto the kindergarten. And that was actually the kindergarten that I went to as a child. And he was taking me into that pine plantation. He said, my office is out here. Now, again, I knew there was no office out there because when I went to kindergarten, there. So I was only in grade two, so it was only a few years since I'd been at kindergarten. We used to have Easter egg hunts in the kindergarten, and they would let us go out into the pine plantation, which was fenced off with a cyclone fence. But for the Easter egg hunts, we'd go out in there. So I knew that there was nothing in there, but he led us. And as I was walking up, I actually saw. Get a lump in my throat. Now, I saw the elderly gentleman that lived in the house raking up leaves in his driveway. And he sort of looked at us. And as he looked at us, my attacker. Are we going with names?

[A]

It's up to you, Bob.

[B]

Yeah. So my attacker, Sterling Bauer, made me jump the fence, which was, you know, those old wooden style fences that has the three railings, just a normal fence. And so he. I got up to the top, and then I couldn't get down. And he helped me down off the fence. So, yeah, he told me that he needed to go to the toilet. And I can remember being so embarrassed that, oh, my God, a man was going to be going to the toilet near me. And yeah, he told me to turn around. And so I turned around while he went to the toilet behind a tree. And then, yeah, he just took me to an area where I don't know whether he had sussed the area out or what. And then he told me to lay down on the ground. And that's when he did what he did.

[A]

Wow.

[B]

I have no idea. Like, the only reason I know exactly what he did to me was when I read my statement 27 years after the fact because I blocked it out of my memory. I have visions and I have flashbacks of I could see his thighs, his naked thighs. And I have memories of some things, but then there's a lot of. Yeah, memories that as I said, I. It was. Wasn't until I read the statement that I actually realized how sick and disgusting he was. He said to me when he was leaving, he said, do not move and if you tell anyone, I will kill you. And I had told him where I lived. Like as we were walking, I was like, oh, I live at blah blah, blah. So he knew where I lived. But I don't know. I don't know whether I just didn't care or what. Now I grabbed my backpack. Well, I got up and I pulled my pants up. I grabbed my backpack and I ran for the gate which led out into the Kinder. It was a six foot cyclone fence and I was not the fittest of kids, but I scaled that fence like you would not believe and jumped to the other side and I ran and I counted it the other night, it's like eight houses to. To my house from the Kinder. Wow. And I ran screaming the whole way and I. And it's funny because he said, don't tell anyone. Well, everyone knew.

[A]

Thank God for you.

[B]

Thank God you did. Yeah. My sister, her first memory of that day is hearing me running down the driveway on the gravel. And she said I was screaming, I've been attacked. I've been attacked. I've been attacked. As I was running down our driveway and she said I ran up. We had 10 backstairs get a bit teary here. I ran up the back stairs and I was in a purple tracksuit. Our school didn't have like a compulsory school uniform. And mum came from the kitchen to the back door and I was screaming, I've been attacked. And my sister said that she just pulled my pants down and she said pine needles just went everywhere.

[A]

Oh my God.

[B]

And she said, mum. That was when my mum just panicked. Mum rang either the police, but she definitely rang the neighborhood watch lady. And then mum grabbed her car keys and took off in the car.

[A]

And left you girls at home? Yeah, she went looking for him.

[B]

Yeah, she went to find him again. We don't know how long. My sister, she said she was so traumatised, 13 years old, she's got my sister there going, I don't know what to do. So mum came back and then the next thing the house was just for. My sister said on the way here. She said it felt like there was 10,000 people in our house. My next memory was in the toilet. Mum's, you know, just a single toilet room. And my memory was a police officers pulling my pants down and collecting all the pine needles. Like I lost my innocence that day. This is something that really is hard for me. But growing up, my nickname was Gin Mitty always. So Mum would call me Gin. Even my sister now occasionally still calls me Gin. And the night of the attack, when I went to bed, I then couldn't. I had to sleep with the lights on. And Mum said, good night, Gynmidi. And I turned to her and I said, gidmidi doesn't live here anymore. That little Gimme's not here anymore. It's been taken away. So there was no arrest. There was. I did a sketch. I felt like I lived with the police for three months. Like I can remember going to Target because I had to go and pick out his clothes. And then we had to go and get my clothes because there was also one of those neighborhood watch, you know, bus information buses set up. There was a crime stoppers reenactment. Yes, done. I don't think there was really any counseling done afterwards because again, I don't think there was much available. I don't actually remember any. My sister said she vaguely remembers a woman coming over to our house once. So then it was just never. It was never really. It wasn't something that we weren't allowed to talk about. But it's not something that you just talk about while you're sitting around at the kitchen table when you're 11. It's, you know what I mean? It's just not something that's really brought up. So you always live with it, but you never really discuss it. And yeah, I didn't have any counseling until I was. It wasn't until I was 18 when I was diagnosed with depression and. And then started that. But I'm sure that obviously there was issues much further on. I didn't have a very good, you know, school life. I didn't enjoy school. I dropped out at the end of year 11, which I just about failed on attendance because I wagged every day. So, yeah, so I was just going on living my life believing that he would never be caught. So in 2014, it was September 2014 that I contacted the police again. I think I spoke to about six or seven different police officers until one took me seriously and she was just the most beautiful lady. And then we started communicating via email and it was a little bit later on in the year that she sent me an email back and she said, I just wanted to let you know that I've just had this. Received this email from the biology department. And then was a copy and pasted email which said that we wanted to let you know that we have tested some of the evidence, but unfortunately, this time we were unable to get any DNA off the evidence. And she just, you know, wrote at the bottom, look, I'm really, really sorry, but, you know, we've done. We had to look into it. You know, we'll continue to look on into it, but this is where it stands. And from there, I just went, stuff it. I should never have opened this up. Why did I try? You know, here I am thinking that he's going to be caught. And that email was just like, my dead end. No, nothing's ever going to happen. Then it was the Monday before Good Friday the following year. So in 2015, it was a guy. And he said, hi, Alicia, it's Lee Prados from the Cold Case and Missing Persons Unit, wondering if you could. From Victoria Police. I was wondering if you could please call me back. Yeah, so I rang back straight away, and he goes, I just wanted to let you know that Robin Waite, the detective from the CIU unit that you've been speaking with, actually passed your case on to me, and I've been working on it since late last year. He goes, I'm wondering if I could come out and see you. And I was like, oh, wow. What? What? Yeah, sure. And he goes, what about I come out on Thursday? And he goes, look, I'll bring Robin. Would that suit you if we come to your house? And he goes, oh, we can do it at the police station. I was like, oh, no, just come to the house. That's fine. So, sure enough, on the Thursday before the Good Friday in 2015, they turn up, and then there was Robin. And I just hugged her.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So then he goes on about how they pulled more evidence out of the freezer. He said, there was more evidence that we found in the freezer. And he said, we have pulled DNA off it. And he goes, I just wanted to let you know that we've got a match. And that's exactly what I did. I gasped and then wailed, yes, of course.

[A]

Was he already in their system as a perpetrator?

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Oh, my God.

[B]

For a sexual assault of another child. I'm like, who? He's like, I can't tell you. He goes, the only thing I can tell you is that we are keeping an eye on him. As the detective explained to me, it's not just a case of we've got his DNA. He did it because it's been stored in a freezer for 27 years. Defense could come back and say that it was contaminated, blah blah, blah, blah, blah. So they obviously need a lot more information to pinpoint him back to the area and to the crime. And there's so many ways that it was done and there was things that we found out that just blew us away. So, you know, obviously we couldn't be told anything at the start. And it wasn't until the day that he was arrested that they told us his name. And it wasn't until it he pleaded guilty that they actually told us he lived in the next street.

[A]

Oh.

[B]

So that corner that he picked me up on, he actually lived in the block of units on that corner. So that's how he knew me, that's how he'd seen me. He'd see me every day, walk past his house. The committal hearing, which I wasn't asked to go to, but. And I. I'm denied about whether I would. It was a two day thing and for most of it I wasn't actually allowed to be in the room for it. And it was on the Monday and the Tuesday and then on a Friday I got the call to say that he had pled guilty to rape. So.

[A]

Wow.

[B]

And prosecution accepted it. So they said we need to accept it.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So. Yeah. So he did that, as I said, on the Friday, was sentenced to, yes, six years with four non parole. And he was put on the sex offender Register for 15 years once he's released. I was in really mixed emotions because that was the lesser charge. The worst charge was penetration of a child under 10. And that's what I wanted him to go with because that was the maximum penalty was 20 years, which I knew he would never get it. But the maximum penalty for rape was only 10 years. And rape is a very big umbrella. So I think. And not to say that anyone's case is worse than another, but I just feel that any crime against a child is just so unforgivable. And that's probably because I am one.

[A]

I don't think anyone's gonna hold that against you, but that's okay.

[B]

Yeah. As I think I said to you out in the foyer before I came in, like, this is my life. Yeah. I'm 36 years old. This is all I know.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I have no idea the type of person that I would be today had this not happened to me. And that's really unfair. People don't talk about it because they're ashamed. That's right. And this is where I'm saying, like, I did nothing wrong.

[A]

Yeah, that's right.

[B]

Any victim, you know, whether somebody says their skirt was too short, their top was too tight, they shouldn't have been walking at night, all of that, you know, I have those thoughts too. But do you know what stuff everybody else like? You didn't ask for this to be happened. I didn't ask for this to happen, so why should I be ashamed of it? He's the one that should be ashamed. He's the one that should be embarrassed, not me. I think you've. And that's.

[A]

I think you've done a lot to help people in coming on the show. I think that, you know, you will find people will contact you and say that you've given them the confidence to seek help. People who have not disclosed sexual assault will feel like they can and seek help to do that.

[B]

One person did, then this has been worth it. Yeah. Like it. You know, that's. Yeah, yeah. That's why I'm not keeping a living.

[A]

And let's not forget you took a rapist off the street for at least a couple of years, babe. So thank you for that. If you're listening to Australian True Crime on Spotify, you might want to check out some of the playlists we've made for you of past episodes. There are links to those in the show notes 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. The producers of this podcast recognise the traditional owners of the land on which it's recorded.

[B]

They pay respect to the Aboriginal elders

[A]

past, present and those emerging.