I approached the Labor government … but they would not help

My Cry from the Heart after (Labor) Govt rejects compo claim over sexual abuse

I sent victim’s impact statements to the courts before Vivian Frank Kingston was sentenced …

My Story …

In 1975 I was caught driving whilst disqualified and received a 20 day work order. I was put into the care of the Tasmanian Probation Department to supervise my work order.

My probation officer was H (now deceased). I well remember the first time that I saw H when I fronted his office desk during my first interview with him. He was an imposing man of about 23 stone. His countenance always reminded me of the actor Edward G. Robinson.

H told me that I would be working at the Burnie Park on Saturdays and that my supervisor was to be a Mr Vivian Frank Kingston. I was to work a 7-hour day and I was to do exactly what Kingston instructed me to do. H proceeded to make it very clear to me that I was on probation instead of a jail sentence. He said that any failure to carry out either his or Kingson’s instructions would see me in Risdon Prison before my feet touched the ground.

H had a routine where he separated the workers into two groups. The first group was aged 18 to 25 and worked at the Burnie Park with Kingston. The other group were everybody else over the age of 25 and were sent to work in other parts of Burnie.

H and Kingston were able to stand over the young group where they could not do this with the older men. Any of the young group that looked like causing trouble and standing up for themselves were moved on to the older group. H and Kingston started to sexually abuse the boys of the younger group and was probably doing so for many years. It was the perfect set up for paedophiles with very young men and the threat of jail hanging over all their heads.

I could not do anything at the time and when things started to hot up for Kingston he absconded to South Australia to escape the Police. He sexually abused young boys in South Australia and had to move on again to Victoria where he again was soon in trouble for the sexual abuse of young boys.

By this time the Police with computers were able to track him down and extradite him back to Tasmania to face the outstanding arrest warrants that the Tasmanian Police had for him.

His extradition was in the newspapers and I was able at last to have my day in court when Kingston pled guilty to all the counts of sexual abuse brought against him.

I told the Police at that time I wanted to see H in the dock alongside Kingston but unfortunately H had passed away and could not face justice.

So many horrible things happened to the work order boys and young men in the short time that I was at the Burnie Park. There must be some terribly injured people out there who have never come forward.

Robert William McKellar-Ellis then details his experiences inside the cabin at Burnie Park which formed the basis of his victim impacts statements. They are extraordinarily graphic …

He concludes …

I finished doing my work orders and thought that that was the end of the whole horrible affair but many years down the track I gave up drinking alcohol and I was able to see the world as it is and not through the mists of an alcoholic mind.

I attempted to rejoin the world but found that the awful thoughts of what had happened with Kingston turned to depression and I had to seek medical attention.

How I survived up to now I will never know. I keep to myself as this is the only way that I can control events in my life. Since Kingston I must be able to have total control of my surroundings and my life.

I am socially isolated without any close friends but I feel safe. I have had many long periods of depression and I am on anti-depressants most of the time.

Because of the bouts of depression I have had to spend most of my time on the unemployment benefit until I was put on a disability pension.

Because of Kingston and H I am unemployable. I have no friends, am depressed a lot of the time and am socially isolated.

I do not know where to turn for help and I suppose that unless I can get proper long-term psychiatric treatment this is the way that I will have to spend the rest of my life.

I approached the Labor government to see if I could get an apology from the Tasmanian government and some money for some false teeth and for some specialised psychiatric treatment in Victoria but after all that has happened to me they would not help.

I approached the Labor Government because I had always believed that they stood more for the ordinary people and were more likely to help than the Liberal Government … but I suppose that government is government and there is not much difference between any of them

In a way they are really no better than Kingston or H …

ABC and ADVOCATE reports on the case …

• ABC: Paedophile bashed in gaol

• Advocate: Burnie council may be pursued in paedophile civil case

Tasmanian Times (TT) is free – always has been, always will be. If you like what TT does, please consider making a donation. We would also encourage you to support our current advertisers. If there are other companies you think would like to advertise on TT, please email your suggestions to editor@oldtt.pixelkey.biz. Thank you!