“We’re all still living with it”: ‘Hey Dad!’ abuse victim speaks out
Content warning: This article includes mentions of sexual assault and child sexual abuse.
Former Hey Dad! child star Sarah Monahan has spoken out after she learning the man who sexually abused her on national television will be released from prison.
Monahan told A Current Affair that the release of her former TV dad, Robert Hughes, had made her feel emotional, angry, and relieved.
“I think we went from sadness, to despair, to bitterness,” she said.
“I did not make it through the phone call without like, just tears coming out. There’s just been so much over so long and I guess it is now… it’s just … it’s over.”
“He will never say sorry and I’m fine with that. He’ll never say it. I’m not going to beg for it; I’m not going to ask for it,” she added.
In 2014, Hughes was convicted for sexual assault offences involving four girls and wasn’t eligible for parole until 2020.
After serving eight years of his decade-long prison sentence for sexually abusing four girls, the 74-year-old TV star has been granted parole.
In a 13 page judgement, the New South Wales State Parole Authority announced the decision, writing that the “offences took place in particular settings in which the offender abused his power and his position of trust”.
While the parole authority was considering the decision at a public hearing last week, Monahan arrived in Sydney from the US and spoke with A Current Affair about her abuser.
“I’m not scared of him anymore … he’s not going to be able to intimidate me anymore,” she said.
With Hughes being granted parole, Monahan said she and the other victims would no longer have to face yearly parole applications.
Now, Hughes will be heading to a detention centre before being deported back to the UK, having previously renounced his Australian citizenship.
“He gets to move on with his life to go to England, but we’re still all living with it. So I guess it’s not really the release that I thought it would be,” Monahan said.
He will also be subject to Interpol notification orders, meaning he’ll have to report to the UK police within days of arriving, as well as yearly, and inform Interpol of his address, any travel plans, and if he plans to stay at an address where a child is present for longer than 12 hours.
His wife, Robyn Gardner, has promised that Hughes will undergo psychological counselling.
Hughes is also prohibited from contacting, communicating with, stalking, harassing or intimidating his victims or their families, and he cannot be in the company of a person under the age of 16 without a responsible adult present.
“I’m sure he thinks he’s won and he’s very happy that he’s going to get to go home,” Monahan said.
She added that now she just wants to put Hughes out of her life.
“This has consumed my entire life for the last 12 years, 14 years, so I guess I’ll have to find a new me now,” she said.
“I don’t want to be a victim anymore.”
Image: A Current Affair