Hey Dad actor accused of sexual abuse*

POST UPDATED [*warning: if you are a survivor of abuse, this post may be upsetting….]

Extraordinary. That’s really the only way I can describe watching A Current Affair tonight when this Hey Dad story unfolded a whole lot further after the interview given by Sarah Monahan to Woman’s Day last week. We’ll get to that in a moment.

First, the background. News Ltd reports:

ACTOR Robert Hughes has denied reports he molested a child co-star on the set of the hit Eighties sitcom Hey Dad. Earlier, Channel Nine’s A Current Affair named the actor, who played the father in the popular comedy series, named Hughes as the actor at the centre of the allegations.
“I am absolutely shocked and surprised at this allegation,” Hughes said. “I categorically deny the allegation. It never happened. The entire matter is now in the hands of my lawyers.”

Child star Sarah Monahan told Woman’s Day last week that a man who worked on the show had fondled her and exposed himself. Monahan, who played schoolgirl Jenny Kelly, was six when she began work on Hey Dad!, which aired on the Seven Network from 1987 to 1994.

She told Woman’s Day that a man who worked on the show had fondled her and exposed himself, the Herald Sun reported.

Monahan later said there were other other victims among the Hey Dad! cast. “I guess I was the smallest and I know I wasn’t the only one. The others are just still not going to speak about it,” she said.

But the most compelling part of the whole program was the interview with actor Ben Oxenbould, who played Sarah’s brother on the show. Interviewed live in the studio by Tracy Grimshaw, Ben gave the most extraordinary and emotional interview. He was amazingly composed and articulate but the intensity of his anger, guilt and torment was palpable.

He spoke of having caught Hughes in a sexually compromising position with another child, a 10 year old girl who was a guest actor on the show. He said he knew of Robert Hughes’ behaviour towards Sarah and that ‘those in charge’ also knew. He said on numerous occasions – over years – he witnessed behaviour by Robert Hughes which he described as ‘extremely inappropriate’ even by the more relaxed standards of the 80s, let alone by today’s standards.  He spoke about living with the guilt of not having said anything for 17 years since it happened and how extreme pressure was put on him and other cast and crew members not to rock the boat about concerns over Robert Hughes’ behaviour.

After all, the show was one of the most successful in Australian TV history – with 291 episodes filmed and the the show sold into more than 20 countries.
There are so many tragic and disturbing aspects to this story it’s difficult to know how to unpack it.

Like the tragedy of Sarah Monahan telling Woman’s Day that she will never have children because she was too mentally and emotionally damaged by the abuse she endured on the set of Hey Dad.

The fact that money was more important to the producers and network managers who, Sarah and Ben confirm, knew of the abuse and ordered them to keep quiet so as not to jeopordise the local and international success and profits of the show.

I was also struck about how times have changed. How – am I being naive when I say this? – such a thing would not happen today. Not on the set of the country’s most popular TV show, witnessed by dozens of cast and crew, all of whom appear to have been coerced into staying quiet about it.

It’s unquestionably true that  our collective radar for inappropriate or sexually abusive behaviour is so much more finely tuned today.  There is more education and more support for the victims of abuse, more encouragement for them to speak up.

Some people dismiss this kind of awareness sneeringly as political correctness. I call it evolution. And a wonderful, important thing.

And yes, these allegations are now in the hands of police and will be investigated.

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UPDATE: Ok, I’m here. Yes, I’ve been away from the computer all morning and I’ve just read all the comments.

First things first: I’m not taking this post down.

There is no legal or ethical imperative for it to be removed and I am very comfortable with what I’ve said.

This story is the top news story in every major media organisation in every medium. I did not break this story. It was broken first by Woman’s Day and then further by A Current Affair. I am merely covering and discussing what is already in the news – ditto you if you’ve commented.

And while I stand by what I have written, what I’m not comfortable with is some of the comments, many of which I have just now deleted. If you replied to an offensive comment, then yours will have been deleted too – apologies for that but it doesn’t make sense to leave replies when the original is gone.

To those who have rushed to condemn the media and ACA for covering this story, let me explain a few things to you (and please spare any references to me defending Channel 9 or Woman’s Day because I used to work for ACP and sometimes appear on the Today Show – that conspiracy theory is a little old). All media organisations have large legal teams whose job it is to look very closely at every story with legal implications BEFORE it goes to air or print.

These professionals carefully and cautiously asses the risks and implications and abide within the law – including defamation laws. This involves looking at all the evidence associated with the story – not all of which is broadcast or printed.
I am extremely confident that if these allegations have been made public, there was deemed to be enough legal evidence to warrant their airing.

That doesn’t necessarily mean anyone is guilty or not-guilty. But it means that accusations can be made public.

I also dispute the idea that somehow the media has no place in stories like this. There are many examples of media organisations breaking stories and bringing them into the public domain.
The National Enquirer in the US was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for breaking the story about former presidential candidate John Edwards’ infidelity.

And remember the group sex story and the accusations about the appalling behaviour of NRL players that came out last year?
That was due to 4 Corners.

As for questions about why Sarah Monahan told her story to the media and not to police, well, I’ve never been the victim of sexual abuse so I’m not prepared to say what she should or shouldn’t have done.
I’m not prepared to hypothesise how the mind of a victim might work or how mental, physical or emotional damage in their childhood might impact on their decisions as an adult.

Let me tell you something else. Sometimes, the media stumbles across stories when they’re actually chasing something else, something far more benign. So maybe Sarah didn’t go to the media with her story. Maybe they came to her and in the course of an interview, something came up. It happens.

This is not a bad thing. If the media are responsible for helping to expose an alleged child abuser and an alleged TV network cover-up of child abuse? That should be applauded.

This is not a case of he-said, she-said and that was an important factor in me deciding to publish this post. There have been several eye witnesses, including Ben Oxenbould who have now corroborated Sarah Monahan’s claims.
Even the producer admitted last week that he was aware of them.

And I have it under good authority that this story is going to get a lot worse in the coming weeks.

I believe issues like child abuse and sexual abuse are important ones to discuss on Mamamia. I make no apology for that either.

Survivors and victims of abuse should not feel ashamed or intimidated to speak out. Yes, their claims should be investigated by authorities if they choose to press charges, just like anyone accused of such heinous crimes has the right to legal defence.
I believe that is all occurring now.
And this story is far from over. If this man wins his defamation case or is tried and found innocent, I will post on that too.

Finally, if this post or this subject is not to your taste, can I suggest you go here, here, or here.

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