Bryan Wiseman underwent decades of torture until he was eventually sentenced to eight years behind bars by the man who molested him as an infant.
But for the former Home And Away champion, the ordeal is still not over.
Last November, Nowra bus driver Trevor Dale pled guilty to verbally and anally assaulting Mr. Wiseman while he was just ten years old, earning a statutory term of eight years imprisonment for at least five years and nine months in jail.
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Yet the court battle is continuing, with Dale giving his term an “extension after extension” to appeal.
Mr. Wiseman, now 51, told news.com.au that he was effectively serving a “life sentence” while the scheme allowed his abuser to postpone the procedure for 10 excruciating months.
He said there was still more pain on top of that triggered by the original police report and court action, which resulted in Mr. Wiseman making a compelling speech about the victim effects outlining the violence and its consequences.
“These extensions are such a slap in the face I thought the entire thing was over,” said an upset Mr. Wiseman.
“I understand that he has the right to some parts of the law … but it’s heart-wrenching as I try to put this behind me and move on.
“It’s insane because any time I receive a call from the police to say that he’s asked for another extension it’s like getting methylated alcohol dumped into the wound – it brings up the nightmare and I don’t seem to get any respite.”
Mr. Wiseman, who spent four years as Dr. John Wilson on Home And Away, said he couldn’t understand why so many extensions had been given.
“You have these criminals who show no empathy who do not understand the suffering they show caused and the survivor is pulled into it over and over again-it ‘s so upsetting,” he said.
“Every month there is another contraction, like being stabbed in the back.”
But the process of appeals is just one aspect of the justice system that Mr. Wiseman claims is “broken”
He said that only after being notified by fellow perpetrators of sexual assault, he learned he was entitled to $10,000 in benefits from Victims Programs, and that after he claimed there were too many obstacles and “hoops to go through” that contributed to the additional difficulty he endured.
He said there should be more incentives.
“I appreciate it and I’m thankful but I’ve been screwing up my life and I don’t see how $10,000 can ever repair it,” he said.
The scheme needs to be overhauled and the amount of pay even greater.”
And he said he was disgusted by Victoria’s notorious secrecy laws – the product of amendments made in February to the Judicial Proceedings Records Act – which muzzle victims of sexual harassment whose perpetrators have been found guilty by barring them from ever speaking out under their actual names, whether in the media or autobiographies.
Those that violate the current laws pay more than $3,000 in fines – plus up to four months in prison.
As a citizen of the NSW, the harsh laws did not affect Mr. Wiseman directly, but he said that many Victorian survivors who were ravaged by the rules had contacted him and that he lived in fear that similar laws would be carried out across the country.
“I saw red when I read about Victoria’s gag laws-these violent women were stuck in their emotional prison and they can’t talk about it, they can’t write a novel,” Mr. Wiseman said.
In so many respects it’s just too unfair and I am sure a similar rule might be enforced in NSW.
“When we lose our voice, it’s just too unfair – I don’t know if there’s justice.”
Mr. Wiseman said his decision to talk out about the rape had not only supported his recovery process but had also encouraged him to assist “hundreds” of other survivors who had privately contacted him over the months.
Last month the # LetUsSpeak movement was initiated in Tasmania and the Northern Territories to combat the Victorian laws after helping to repeal strict-gag rules.
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