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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2013-04-10 Daily Xml
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O’GRADY, MS K.L.

The Hon. A. BRESSINGTON (16:18): I move:

That this council urges—

1. The Attorney-General to refer the untimely death of Kirbee Louise O’Grady, who died on 19 July 2012, to the Coroner for coronial inquest; and

2. The Attorney-General to request an inquiry into all the circumstances leading up to Kirbee Louise O’Grady’s death including, but not limited to:

(a) allegations of sexual assault;

(b) issues pertaining to the investigation and case management of the matter by the police;

(c) the decision of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) not to proceed to trial;

(d) effectiveness of the support and follow-up process of the DPP pre and post-trial, including when matters do not go to trial; and

(e) any other circumstances that contributed to the death of Kirbee Louise O’Grady.

I am moving this motion today, that this parliament supports a coronial inquest into the circumstances leading up to the untimely death of a beautiful young lady named Kirbee O'Grady. I became aware of Kirbee's matter when her mother and aunt contacted my office. After having exhausted all legal avenues in relation to this matter, they contacted me, and several other notable politicians and heads of departments in Adelaide, in an effort to have this matter referred to the Coroner.

Sadly, as a young girl Kirbee became the victim of a serious crime for which she was unable to secure any lasting closure. Tragically, Kirbee was victimised by ongoing and explicit sexual abuse by member of her family at the extremely young age of three years old. This continued until she was eight years old. She was forced to engage in sexual acts and watch graphic depictions of sexual acts while the perpetrator gained his own gratification. Kirbee's family know of at least two other victims who were also abused by this sick individual; however, to this day this predator has never been brought to account in a court of law. Sadly, this abuse was cleverly disguised and did not come to light for several years. It was not until Kirbee worked up the courage to approach her mother and aunt that they realised both she and her cousin Ashleigh had been sexually abused by this predator.

Any abuse of a child is horrendous and breaches natural boundaries that any ordinary person would never cross. However, this was particularly heinous as she was raped and shown pornography by a close family member, who violated the innocent trust of one so young while she was in his care. The abuse in itself was horrific, which nobody can deny; however, it was the events afterwards that I believe caused a compounding trauma upon Kirbee, which ultimately led to her desperate action to take her own life.

By way of a brief history, the matter was reported to Family and Youth Services after Kirbee and her cousin Ashleigh spoke out about their abuse. Family and Youth Services later confirmed the sexual abuse had actually occurred. Approximately one week after the children admitted that they had been abused, a representative of the Sexual Assault Unit took statements, including video evidence, from both the girls with a view to charging and prosecuting their abuser. Kirbee had been working with the DPP and it was decided that she was not strong enough to be brought to proof. Subsequently her matter did not proceed to trial. Her cousin Ashleigh still wanted to proceed to trial; however, for various reasons this did not occur.

Both the girls were told emphatically that the matter had been put aside and was not, in fact, closed. This meant that, should Kirbee desire, she could request the matter to be resumed and she would be brought to proof before continuing the matter to trial. Effectively this meant that Kirbee still had a chance to secure justice.

This provided some glimmer of hope because she and her family believed that there was still a possibility for this predator to be brought before the court and to allow them to have their stories heard. I have heard from both Kirbee's mother and aunt that both the girls were desperate to have their day in court and to tell their stories to a jury. Regardless of the outcome, they wanted the court to hear their voice and recognise the validity of what they had to say.

I will just take a moment before I resume Kirbee's story to say that I am aware that some people in the chamber are of the view that some children do not want to testify against their abusers in matters of sexual abuse because they fear being the reason that their abuser is put in gaol. I can assure you, without any doubt, that this was not true of Kirbee O'Grady. Kirbee fought for years to have the matter heard and she wanted so very desperately to have her day in court, to be able to put on the record the things that her abuser did to her in the hope that her suffering would be recognised and he would serve some manner of gaol time for the crimes he had committed. There was nothing about her behaviour which would suggest that she wanted anything less than an opportunity to tell her story and see justice done to the man who committed such vile acts against her.

This desire was shown very clearly when Kirbee and Ashleigh, her cousin, who were relying on the guarantee that they had been given that their files had not been closed, attempted to reinstate the court proceedings against their abuser. Both girls met with severe problems at this point. Initially they were told that their respective files had been closed and that they had no chance of bringing the matter to court. Thankfully after some courageous and relentless agitation of those involved in the case and what can only be described as reluctance to act for the girls, the files were requested and the matter was resumed.

As Kirbee had indicated that she wanted to pursue the matter, she was required to make another statement to the police about the abuse that had occurred. She was approximately 17 years old at this time. On presentation to the police station, she was told that all interview areas were busy and that the only place she could make a statement was in the customer service area of the local police station. Sadly, for whatever reason, the police officer failed to realise that this actually traumatised this young lady and it should never have been required of her to give an account of her abuse in a public place. Regardless of her age, this was a callous and insensitive move which is unacceptable at best and professionally negligent at worst. Thankfully, however, Kirbee's mother was able to intervene and insist the interview be conducted properly, and the interview was conducted in an appropriate room on another day.

During this time, Kirbee was advised that her file had gone missing from the Elizabeth Magistrates Court and that it could not be located. Again, the girls and their family agitated and pursued the matter relentlessly. They were told that parts of the files were being held in several police stations around the country, two of which were Port Augusta and Elizabeth. It is unclear why the file from a matter which was almost ready to go to trial in Adelaide would be separated and sent to several different police stations around the state and not kept in one safe and secure location.

The missing parts of the files were eventually recovered, however, but to this day the family has never been shown the file, so they cannot say assuredly that the file given to the DPP was complete. It is quite possible that vital parts of the file were either still missing, located elsewhere or not provided to the prosecution. There were numerous other encounters with members of the police force, the DPP and other practitioners involved in Kirbee's matter which were, for lack of a better word, unsatisfactory and I have no doubt contributed to her ongoing despair and distain for the justice system.

Sadly, Kirbee's matter did not proceed to trial on her second attempt. The matter was never put to a jury, as the DPP said that there were inconsistent statements made by Kirbee. There were approximately nine years in between her making the statements and, whilst Kirbee's mother repeatedly asked whether Kirbee needed to read her initial 28-page statement prior to the day of proofing, the detective managing the matter told Kirbee that it was unnecessary and that she did not need to read the statement. However, on the day of the proofing, Kirbee was given five minutes to read her statement. Unable to cope with the added pressure, Kirbee began crying and was unable to properly read the statement in the short time she was given.

It is possible that this unnecessary pressure contributed greatly to her ability to recall events during the time of her second statement. I would like to point out that the substantive content of Kirbee's statements did not change over time, simply the order and some minor details. It is unfathomable that such a young girl was held to such a high standard of remembering details, in light, firstly, of her age at the time of the abuse—I remind the chamber that she was three years old when this started and that her first statement was made when she was eight years old—and, secondly, given that there were nine years between making both the statements.

As Kirbee was severely and significantly traumatised by her abuse, both at the time of the event and up until her passing, it is not surprising that there were some minor differences in her story. The subsequent treatment from the justice and law enforcement sector most certainly did not help her during this time. It is no surprise to me that a child so young may get confused about the timing or location of certain events. As I mentioned, the substance of the allegations never changed. I believe that this matter should have gone before a jury where, no doubt, the judge would have given a direction and warning about prior inconsistent statements but would have let the jury make up their own mind on the reliability of her statements.

On 19 July 2012, some 12 years into this ongoing fight for justice, Kirbee took her own life. She was 19 years old. Nothing in the system worked to help her to fight for her right to access justice. She had to fight bitterly for every step that was achieved in the process, but she was left with nothing more than bad memories and no hope for her future.

Sadly, stories of sexual abuse are not uncommon, but this particular story, I believe, is heart wrenching. It is high time that justice be done for this young girl, who is no longer with us, and for the remaining friends and family, who are left fighting not only to see the system take action against this terrible wrong but to see the system change so that more innocent young people do not feel the need to suicide.

We as a parliament are in a privileged position in that we can use our influence to fight for justice for this young girl, her surviving family and all the other victims out there who are in a similar position. I am calling on the parliament to support this motion referring this matter to the Coroner to examine the circumstances surrounding and leading up to her death, in the hope that Kirbee and her family can finally have some justice and that other people who have been abused do not feel that suicide is the only option for them. It is time to bring the truth to the forefront. I commend the motion to the chamber.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. K.J. Maher.

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