Shorten rape accuser: Cops failed me

nero_bolt
Community Member

Woman who accuses Opposition Leader Bill Shorten of rape says police failed her 

 

A news paper video of the woman is here http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/woman-who-accuses-opposition-leader-bill-shorten-of-rape-says-polic...

 

A WOMAN who claims she was raped by federal Labor leader Bill Shorten has accused Victoria Police of failing to investigate properly because of his position of power.

 

Earlier this year, authorities decided not to press charges against Mr Shorten because prosecutors felt that “there was no reasonable prospect of conviction”.

 

The woman, Kathy, asked that her surname not be published, but agreed to be photographed.

 

Interviewed by the Herald Sun in Queensland, she said the trauma of what she says happened to her had been exacerbated by what she sees as an inadequate police investigation.

 

“I had three main witnesses ... I gave them the phone number of one, her maiden and married names, told them she lived in Melbourne.

 

“The police told me they couldn’t find her,” Kathy said.

 

“But they went to all of Bill’s friends,’’ she said.

 

Mr Shorten’s press secretary Ryan Liddell last night referred to Mr Shorten’s statement in August: “The claim has now been thoroughly and rigorously investigated by police, as is entirely proper.’’

 

Mr Shorten said then: “I fully co-operated to clear my name. And that is what I have done ... The police have now concluded the investigation. The decision speaks for itself.”

 

A Victoria Police spokesman said the force was satisfied that the matter had been “fully investigated”.

 

Kathy told the Herald Sun she felt let down and devastated by how police had handled the matter.

 

“With another witness, the police tried to say she was influenced by the media, which doesn’t make any sense.

 

“I don’t think I had a hope in hell with the police because of who he is,” Kathy said.

 

“If Bill was just a regular guy I think it would have been different. The police would have had a load of evidence to do something.

“I left it in the hands of the police, and they did nothing.”

 

Kathy, now 44, alleges Mr Shorten raped her at a Labor youth conference in Portarlington in the winter of 1986, when she was just 16.

 

The community nurse completed a 19-page police statement with detectives from Victoria Police’s sexual offences squad last October 23.

 

The police rang me up in April and told me they had called Bill in for questioning.

 

“They then said the case was closed and that they weren’t going to reopen it,” Kathy said.

 

“They said I would not be able to get access to any of the evidence. They said I could apply through Freedom of Information but I wouldn’t get it.

 

“I never really had a leg to stand on. They have tried to bully me,” she said.

 

“ I have got rights, and they are trying to take away my rights. People are treating me like a nutcase.

 

“It doesn’t mean I’m stupid or I’m fabricating things.”

 

Kathy had a rapid rise in Young Labor when elected to the rural policy committee.

 

She became a delegate for party state and national conferences in 1986.

 

Soon after joining Labor she says she came to know Mr Shorten — himself a rising star in the party.

 

After he travelled to Wodonga to meet local members, Kathy says she began speaking to him on the phone regularly about party and policy issues.

 

Kathy says she and her sister went to Portarlington for the youth Labor conference during the winter of 1986.

 

Kathy says she was raped by Mr Shorten after being pushed into a bathroom in the early hours of the morning.

 

She says no one else was present. A number of Young Labor members had spent the evening drinking and smoking marijuana, she says.

 

In her police statement, Kathy outlined how she came to know Mr Shorten and what she said happened on the night in question.

Kathy says she was raped after a group had arrived back from going for a drive.

 

“There was a knock at the door,” Kathy says. “I thought it was my sister. I opened the door and it was Bill.”

 

Kathy says she and her sister left the camp the next day.

 

The Herald Sun has seen a police statement by Kathy’s sister, completed on October 23 last year, in which she confirms details about the location of the Labor youth camp and the people who were present.

 

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/woman-who-accuses-opposition-leader-bill-shorten-of-rape-says-polic...

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Re: Shorten rape accuser: Cops failed me

I wonder who will be paying for the barrister.    Hmmmm.

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Re: Shorten rape accuser: Cops failed me

Mr Faris asked the DPP to confirm the nature of his decision, whether he was prepared to reconsider and whether he would provide the reasons why Mr Shorten was not charged

 

So, if the DPP says no, no, no to those questions there is nothing else the barrister can do?

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Re: Shorten rape accuser: Cops failed me

Pro-bono it says in the article.

 

Mr Faris told The Australian his client, Kathy, was of limited means and his pro bono involvement was the first time she had the benefit of advice from a lawyer.

 

Did this thread just get merged with an old one?

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Re: Shorten rape accuser: Cops failed me

The woman has recruited high-profile barrister Peter Faris QC, who has informed the Victorian Director of Public Prosecutions, John Champion, that his client wants to review the DPP’s decision not to press charges.

 

how did she 'recruit' him for nothing.

 

 

as he's offered his services "pro bono' I'd say it's just another attempt at witch hunting

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Re: Shorten rape accuser: Cops failed me

pro bono means for free nero

 

 

It sounds more like this QC (is he?)

 

sought her out to try and make something out of this case where there isn't anything

Message 65 of 78
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Re: Shorten rape accuser: Cops failed me

Yes, doesn't sound like they have a lot to go on apart from 'asking' the DPP to reconsider and give reasons why there was no charge. Which he is not obliged to do.

Message 66 of 78
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Re: Shorten rape accuser: Cops failed me

What other dark secrets does Mr Shorterm have? Is there another ugly and sinister secret yet to be revealed? Is he fit to be a future leader of this great nation? So many questions with no answers.

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Re: Shorten rape accuser: Cops failed me

Probably none.

Tony abbotts secret about the baby he gave up for adoption that turned out not to be his after DNA testing came out ages ago.so I guess we are used to politicians having skeletons in their closets
Message 68 of 78
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Re: Shorten rape accuser: Cops failed me

did anyone watch Kitchen Cabinet last night??

 

Shorten can't be too bad, his wife is lovely.

Message 69 of 78
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Re: Shorten rape accuser: Cops failed me

I saw most of it, she is lovely and I suspect he is also very nice.

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