Julie Gilbert, allegedly abused by swimming coach Scott Volkers, reveals 'insult' over comments by prosecutor Margaret Cunneen
So again double standards by a shonky dodgy prosecutor.
I wonder how DODGY Margaret Cunneen would like someone sticking their fingers into her VAGINA and giving her a rub up when she had a massage!!!
Updated Wed 9 Jul 2014, 8:34am AEST
A former swimmer who alleges she was abused by high-profile coach Scott Volkers says she felt "insulted" by a top prosecutor's comments about her physical response to his advances.
The royal commission into child sex abuse is currently examining how sports bodies and top prosecutors handled allegations of sexual assault made against Mr Volkers by three former students.
Julie Gilbert, Kylie Rogers and Simone Boyce each allege they were abused between the ages of 12 and 14 while swimming in Mr Volkers' training squad in the 1980s and 1990s.
Mr Volkers was committed to stand trial but charges against him were dropped by the Queensland Director of Public Prosecutions in 2002.
Ms Gilbert has told 7.30 that Mr Volkers' high-profile supporters made his alleged victims feel like "the three worst people in Australia" after the charges were dropped.
'Inappropriate' massage on bed in poolside caravan
The former swimmer says she was abused when she was 13 while swimming in Mr Volkers' training squad in the 1980s.
She said the abuse began after she was injured and found herself struggling to get back into the water.
Ms Gilbert told 7.30 that after she was injured, Mr Volkers "decided that he'd take me to a sauna" which led to "inappropriate massage" on the coach's bed in a caravan by the poolside.
The royal commission has been told Mr Volkers was massaging her back and legs when he began rubbing her vagina inside her swimmers until she experienced an orgasm.
Ms Gilbert will say that about two days later, she again went to Mr Volkers' caravan before training.
She says during that massage, he moved his hands between her legs and under her shorts.
"This is not a sports massage. I mean a sports massage is your shoulders, it's out in the open, it's not hidden behind a closed door and certainly not on the coach's bed," she said.
Prosecutor questioned Gilbert's version of events
The decision not to bring new charges against Mr Volkers after the collapse of the 2002 case was made partly on the advice of one of New South Wales's most experienced prosecutors, Margaret Cunneen.
Ms Cunneen is a highly regarded crown prosecutor who last year ran an inquiry into the alleged cover-up of child sexual abuse in NSW.
Ms Cunneen has been praised for her attitude towards child victims of sexual abuse, which she has called "abhorrent" because it "exploits their vulnerability, irreparably damages their innocence, and casts a shadow over their whole lives".
In 2004 Ms Cunneen questioned Ms Gilbert's assertions that Mr Volkers had massaged her breasts.
"It is legitimate to consider whether 12-year-old swimmers even had breasts, but that is the allegation," Ms Cunneen said.
She also questioned whether a female abuse victim could have experienced an orgasm while being abused.
"It is difficult to accept that Gilbert could have been sufficiently relaxed for orgasm to occur," Ms Cunneen wrote in legal advice to the Queensland DPP.
It's hurtful, it's a direct attack on my recollections on an event that she wasn't there for.
Julie Gilbert
Ms Gilbert has told 7.30 the comments were deeply hurtful.
"Why would I make that up? What would I gain by saying this man did this to me?" she said.
"It's hurtful, it's a direct attack on my recollections on an event that she wasn't there for.
"There was no scientific or medical reasoning behind it. And at the same time she hasn't met me, she doesn't know me as an actual person.
"I don't know how you can make all these assumptions when you don't even know who I am."
Abuse ruined career: 'We were nobodies'
Ms Gilbert has told the royal commission how she stopped competitive swimming after the alleged abuse, effectively ending a promising career, and that she developed an eating disorder.
She says one of her lowest moments came when the charges against the swimming coach were dropped.
"I think that they looked at him as a high-profile swimming coach and that we were nobodies and that all we wanted to do was to ruin his reputation," she told 7.30.
"That was done right across the media by sporting and swimming personalities all , you know, we were regarded as the worst three people in Australia the next morning."
After the charges were dropped, Mr Volkers was retained as head coach at the Queensland Academy of Sport.
On Tuesday the organisation's then-chief, Alex Baumann, told the royal commission that he was not concerned about Mr Volkers because he was not working directly with children.
Chief Commissioner Peter McClellan responded: "Mr Baumann, I have difficulty understanding how he could be a head coach and not have contact with children. Can you explain how that is?"
Mr Baumann replied: "In terms of his role he would be the coach's coach."
Hetty Johnson from child sex abuse survivor network Bravehearts says swimming organisations went out of their way to protect Mr Volkers.
"It's sad but it’s not surprising. This was all about the reputation of Australian swimming and the reputation of their golden boy in Scott Volkers and that’s what’s paramount," she said.
"It's not child protection, it’s not the complainants, it is the swimming. It's a boy's club - 'let's get gold and he is our mate, let’s look after him'."
