Church child sex abuse survivor says crimes made her a 'compassionate' oncology nurse

By Meagan Dillon
ABC News
November 16, 2020

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-11-16/child-sex-abuse-survivor-says-crimes-made-her-compassionate/12887106

Former Church organist Malcolm Day will be sentenced for historic child sex crimes. Photo by Carey Harris

A South Australian child sex abuse survivor has told a court that crimes committed against her within the Church have made her a "compassionate" oncology nurse who cares for those dying of cancer.

In September, District Court Judge Paul Slattery found former music teacher and Church organist Malcolm Winston Day, 79, guilty of child sex crimes against a pupil, aged between nine and 12 at the time, in the 1980s.

Today, a statement from the survivor of his abuse was read to the court by investigating officer, Detective Sergeant Kate Schollar, ahead of Day's sentencing later this month.

"I refer to Malcolm by name. I do this because he does not deserve the respect of being called Mr Day as we used to," the survivor wrote in her statement.

"Nor do I want him to have any more power over me by not being able to say his name.

She said she had not seen or spoken to Day for two decades until she saw him advertise piano lessons online and reported her abuse as a child to police.

"Between 1985 and 1987, I was sexually abused by Malcolm Day — not only has he made a large part of my childhood miserable, but he has changed my whole life," she wrote.

"I have done the best I could to become a person who contributes positively to society, but it has not been easy and I fail often.

"I have worked hard over the years, completing several degrees that has allowed me the honour of caring for so many people needing help.

"This has allowed me to be a nurse who is zealous for patient rights and empathetic. It has been my privilege to care for people dying from cancer over the past 25 years.

"Malcolm's cruel, selfish and heartless treatment of me has been the thing that allows me to walk alongside people and their families as they suffer the cruel and indiscriminatory experience of cancer."

But in her statement, the survivor said she had ambitions of becoming a veterinarian, not an oncology nurse.

"My world imploded during Year 12 when this all came out and I did not achieve as I should have. In 1992, I was diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)," she stated.

"I had my 17th birthday while detained in a psychiatric ward and I remember them saying, 'you are textbook child sexual abuse'.

"They were looking at the fundamentals of who I was — self-destructive, angry, socially isolated, hypervigilant, just waiting for the next person to hurt me.

"Malcolm did this to me. It was a result of his mistreatment."

In her statement read by Sgt Schollar, the survivor said the abuse had fractured her family and her father's "lack of action and need to keep things quiet" led to further harm.

"Malcolm is a monster in my eyes, when I'm asleep and when I'm awake. He follows me everyday of my life. I just wish I could have a day without him in my mind."

She said in her statement that she gained weight so she could become "invisible to predators".

Andrew Ey, for Day, told the court his client was maintaining his innocence and had not admitted to the offending.