Australian Story subject sexually abused his niece, failed to pay civil damages

Warning: This article contains details of child sexual abuse.

Christy Fenton was “in disbelief” when she heard the man who sexually assaulted her for a decade had been profiled on the ABC’s Australian Story program.

Ms Fenton said it was “incredible” that her uncle, Bendigo man Ian Williams, was still misleading people.

“He still gets away with it, people still believe him,” Ms. Fenton said.

Ms. Fenton was sexually abused by her uncle for ten years, starting from the age of five.

He waived his legal right to anonymity in order to raise awareness about the effects of sexual abuse.

Williams was convicted in 1993 of four charges of indecent assault and three of attempted sexual intercourse with a child and was sentenced to three and a half years in prison.

Christy Fenton’s victim impact statement to the Victorian County Court says the abuse changed her life forever.

“As a child, I remember just wanting to die,” the statement said.

“I felt dirty and embarrassed and like I was different from other kids.”

ABC first featured Williams in a Background Briefing podcast episode and article published in July last year.

Efforts to sue National Australia Bank for $379 million after a Bendigo pensioner lost nearly $1,300 in a fraudulent transaction have been outlined.

Australian Story was due to profile Williams in a half-hour episode about his life scheduled to air in February.

He was described by the ABC as a “brave retiree” who took on one of Australia’s big banks in a David and Goliath battle.

On the day of the scheduled broadcast on February 23, ABC Central Victoria was contacted by a former landlord of Williams’.

The former landlord did not want to be publicly linked to Williams and asked to remain anonymous.

“I was lying in bed and heard the David and Goliath story resurface,” the former homeowner said.

“I thought that was a daring act [Williams] “To show everyone this struggling retiree when the quality of his character is questioned.”

Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal records provided by his former landlord show Williams was evicted from a rental property last year for more than $60,000 in unpaid rent.

The former landlord claims Williams placed a 50-foot concrete yacht in the backyard and left his belongings at the rental property.

“I liken him to a wolf in sheep’s clothing,” the former homeowner said.

Williams told ABC Central Victoria he stopped paying rent due to problems at the property and claimed his former landlord gave him permission to store his belongings, including a yacht.

Christy’s story

Williams is the younger brother of Ms Fenton’s late father and was also married to her mother’s sister when the sexual abuse began in the 1970s.

“People trusted him, spending time with the kids wasn’t important to him,” Ms. Fenton said.

“Even if I was around my cousin or my brother, he would find a way.” [to sexually abuse me] – he wasn’t actually afraid.

“They might be sleeping next to me.”

Ms Fenton said she first disclosed the abuse when she became a mother at 18.

“When my son was born, I looked at him and it just came to me,” Ms. Fenton said.

“‘How could anyone want to harm a baby like that?’ I thought.”

In 2019, Ms Fenton sued her uncle and was awarded just over $385,000 in damages in the case filed in the Victorian County Court.

Williams never paid the compensation.

He confirmed this to ABC Central Victoria and said he hoped his NAB court case would allow him to repay his debts.

Mrs. Fenton didn’t believe it.

“He’s lying as if it were completely and utterly true,” he said.

“He can make someone believe his story, even if it is completely fabricated.

“So in the end you feel like you don’t have a chance.”

He wasn’t surprised that he was able to persuade two of the ABC’s flagship current affairs programmes, Australian Story and Background Briefing, to tell his story.

NAB refused to comment on Williams’ criminal history but the ABC understands the bank was unaware of it.

NAB had previously apologized to Williams for its handling of the fraudulent transaction.

Williams ‘not the future’

Williams admitted to ABC Central Victoria’s Background Briefing or The Australian Story that he did not mention his criminal history.

He said he did not think historical sexual crimes were relevant to his interests in his fight with NAB.

A spokesman for the ABC said the Australian Story team had carried out due diligence, checked information and spoken to Williams’ friends and family about his past.

“Mr. Williams was asked directly several times if there was anything we should know that would be detrimental to him or his story,” the spokesperson said.

“He chose not to disclose these historic sexual offenses and there was nothing in the digital records that related to his criminal history.”

The day after Williams’ former landlord came forward, ABC Central Victoria was able to access the Bendigo Magistrates’ Court conviction for Ian Williams for unlawful assault in 1993.

However, files relating to historical sexual offenses heard in the District Court were not digitized and had to be accessed off-site.

The ABC spokesman said it pulled the Australian Story segment as soon as the crimes became known and “moved quickly” to remove other Williams-related content.

An ABC spokesman said Background Briefing was aware of the lease dispute but Australian Story was not aware of it until the scheduled broadcast day.

Ms Fenton said she decided to share her story with the ABC in the hope of addressing the stigma towards sexual assault victims.

She said she felt judged and tainted by the abuse victim label when people found out about this, and it had a lasting impact on her life.

“As soon as you talk about child sexual abuse, people immediately become uncomfortable,” he said.

“But that person didn’t want to be exploited.

“Kids need to feel like they have somewhere to go and say they’re not safe without being judged or thinking they’ll get in trouble.”

An ABC spokesman said the ABC was “deeply concerned about the sensitive treatment of victims and survivors”.

The spokesperson said ABC will not change its policies and procedures or impose sanctions on any staff members as a result of the canceled episode.

“There’s no reason for this to happen,” they said.

“The stories about Mr Williams were based on his allegations against the National Australia Bank.

“Program teams investigated and thoroughly tested Mr. Williams’ allegations and actively sought other relevant information from him in accordance with the ABC’s editorial standards.

“Historical crimes were unaccounted for and, because of their antiquity, were not easily accessible, especially if they were not known to exist.

“Once the ABC became aware of these, the response was swift.”