{"id":550050,"date":"2026-03-19T07:09:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T07:09:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/550050\/"},"modified":"2026-03-19T07:09:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T07:09:11","slug":"woman-who-was-sexually-abused-by-her-parents-for-14-years-says-she-was-devastated-by-the-australians-podcast-crime-australia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/550050\/","title":{"rendered":"Woman who was sexually abused by her parents for 14 years says she was devastated by The Australian\u2019s podcast | Crime – Australia"},"content":{"rendered":"

A woman who suffered sexual and physical abuse at the hands of her parents for 14 years has broken her silence to say how devastated she was when The Australian interviewed the jailed couple for a podcast called Shadow of Doubt<\/a> and described her evidence in an editorial as \u201cmanifestly implausible\u201d.<\/p>\n

Her parents were jailed in 2016<\/a> but it was not until this week she chose to speak publicly<\/a> after suppression orders were lifted in a separate, historical case against her father, William \u201cRob\u201d Gilfillan.<\/p>\n

In 2023, The Australian published an eight-part podcast investigation<\/a> by journalist Richard Guilliatt which featured interviews with the couple from jail and suggested the case could be a \u201cgrave miscarriage of justice\u201d, based largely on the argument that \u201cno one noticed the abuse\u201d.<\/p>\n

On Monday the woman gave an interview to news.com.au, a sister publication of Rupert Murdoch\u2019s The Australian, in which she detailed how her mental health suffered after she was contacted by Guilliatt.<\/p>\n

Her lawyers asked The Australian to reconsider because publication was likely detrimental to her mental health but the podcast was released anyway.<\/p>\n

Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email<\/a><\/p>\n

Two years after the podcast was published the media was able to name the perpetrator, giving the survivor a chance to respond for the first time.<\/p>\n

In December 2025 a Victoria county court jury found the former high school sports teacher guilty of indecent assault of a person under 16 and sexual penetration of a child under 16<\/a> in the 1980s. There were two victims and five charges, according to court records.<\/p>\n

Ten years earlier, in 2016, the daughter\u2019s case was widely reported after a judge described the father as a \u201cdepraved sadist\u201d and sentenced him to a total prison term of 48 years.<\/p>\n

The sentence for the rape, mutilation and torture of his youngest daughter from the age of five he was handed down in Sydney\u2019s district court but the names of the parents were suppressed because the father was facing additional historical charges in Victoria.<\/p>\n

The woman\u2019s mother was convicted of a further 13 counts, including indecent assault, and sentenced to 16 years.<\/p>\n

The couple appealed against the convictions but ran out of legal options in 2022 when the high court upheld the guilty verdicts.<\/a><\/p>\n

The young woman told news.com.au she \u201cfelt sick\u201d when The Australian gave a platform to her parents the year after the high court decision \u2013 just when she \u201cfelt safe for the first time in her life\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn 2023 I received a message from a journalist, Richard Guilliatt,\u201d she told news.com.au Walkley-award winning investigative journalist Nina Funnell.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cHe contacted me on social media and told me he was in contact with the two paedophiles who raped me and was making a podcast about them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Guilliatt did not get an interview with the survivor but he spoke to the parents from jail and they both protested their innocence. He said he recorded hundreds of jail phone calls of six minutes\u2019 duration.<\/p>\n

The podcast detailed the woman\u2019s private medical information after Guilliatt obtained access to her sexual assault counselling notes. She said the access \u201cabsolutely erased her trust\u201d in the system.<\/p>\n

The mother told Guilliatt that her daughter\u2019s \u201csubstandard mental health treatment caused her to confabulate false allegations\u201d.<\/p>\n

Journalist Richard Guilliatt said \u2018efforts were made to present a nuanced picture of this case and the many issues it raises\u2019. Photograph: Clare fletcher\/The Australian<\/p>\n

A feature in the Weekend Australian was headlined: \u201cShadow of Doubt podcast: Fresh questions raised about evidence that convicted parents for \u2018depraved\u2019 child abuse\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Australian backed up the investigation, saying in an editorial<\/a> the podcast was \u201cmore gripping than a dark mystery novel [and] is critically important public interest journalism\u201d. News Corp commercial executive Ainslee Horstman told a trade publication that investigations like Shadow of Doubt \u201ctranslate into growth for our business via consumer and client revenues\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is manifestly implausible that the girl was ritually tortured for days on end in a chicken-wire shed just metres from the family home, visible from her siblings\u2019 bedroom windows, without them noticing \u2013 and it\u2019s inexplicable that nobody ever saw the bruises and lacerations such grotesque torment must have inflicted\u201d, the editorial read.<\/p>\n

Guilliatt and The Australian have not responded to a request for comment, but Guardian Australia understands they stand by the podcast and are preparing an article in response to the news.com.au series.<\/p>\n

Although the podcast did not name the family members, the survivor says she was quickly identified online and suffered extreme anxiety as a result, including when one article used her real initials to identify her.<\/p>\n

An experienced journalist who won a Walkley award for feature writing and is a member of the Walkley judging board, Guilliatt told news.com.au: \u201cAt all times my editors and I made strenuous efforts to comply with the non-identification order imposed by Judge Sarah Huggett in the NSW district court.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe podcast was explicit in acknowledging that [her] mental health issues may well stem from childhood abuse.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was and am aware of the deep distress [the woman] has suffered since 2010. Much of my reporting has focused on whether substandard counselling and mental health treatment has contributed to her suffering.<\/p>\n

\u201cI take my professional responsibilities very seriously. Efforts were made to present a nuanced picture of this case and the many issues it raises.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Australian has reported that the couple are petitioning the NSW attorney general, Michael Daley, for a judicial review but a spokesperson said the minister could not confirm petitions for privacy reasons.<\/p>\n

Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse is available from the following organisations. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect<\/a> (1800 737 732). In the UK, Rape Crisis<\/a> offers support on 0808 500 2222. In the US, Rainn<\/a> offers support on 800-656-4673. Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org\/rcip\/internl.html<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A woman who suffered sexual and physical abuse at the hands of her parents for 14 years has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":550051,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-550050","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/550050","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=550050"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/550050\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/550051"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=550050"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=550050"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=550050"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}