WA District Court Awards $2.43M in Childhood Abuse Case

In the recent matter of PLA (a pseudonym) -v- DEF (a pseudonym) [2024] WADC 53, the plaintiff, PLA (a pseudonym), brought proceedings against the defendant, DEF, (a pseudonym) in relation to childhood abuse suffered by the plaintiff by a relative.   

The defendant is the plaintiff’s uncle by marriage (the defendant was married to the plaintiff’s father’s sister). On 16 May 1994, the defendant was convicted in the Supreme Court of Western Australia on a plea of guilty to one count of sexual penetration in circumstances of aggravation. Although the defendant was convicted of a single count of sexual penetration, the defendant repeatedly sexually abused the plaintiff between 1991 and 1993 commencing when the plaintiff was around 5 or 6 years old.  

The defendant first sexually abused the plaintiff when she was being babysat at the house of her aunty. The defendant got into bed with her naked and touched her all over her body, including between her legs. The defendant began sexually abusing the plaintiff more regularly when they were living next door to each other. The defendant made the plaintiff touch his penis on multiple occasions. On another occasion the defendant lay on top of the plaintiff naked. The defendant also made the plaintiff perform oral sex on him on multiple occasions. On the last occasion the defendant sexually abused the plaintiff, he pushed her head down onto his penis which made the plaintiff choke. When she choked, he laughed. This was the last incident as the plaintiff told her parents about what had been happening after this. After the plaintiff told her parents about the abuse, her parents called the police. The defendant was subsequently charged and pled guilty to the offence with which he was charged. 

In these proceedings, the plaintiff sued the defendant for battery. The plaintiff obtained judgment against the defendant in default of appearance. This particular judgment concerns the assessment of the damages to which the plaintiff is entitled. At the hearing, the defendant was self-represented. The defendant did not apply to set aside the default judgment. The defendant also did not actively defend the plaintiff’s claim. Although the defendant was given the opportunity to do so, he did not cross-examine any witnesses, give evidence himself or call any witnesses, or make any submissions. The defendant also did not challenge the basis upon which the plaintiff submitted damages should be assessed. 

There were some comments made about the basis of a forensic account’s report however, by the conclusion of the trial, the plaintiff’s position became that the appropriate assessment of her loss of earning capacity on the preponderance of the evidence and the authorities was an assessment which assumed that she would have earned average weekly earnings for a person who left high school at Year 12 (at [121]). 

In summary, the Western Australian District Court made an assessment of the plaintiff’s damages as follows (at [204]):  

Non-pecuniary loss – $300,000.00

Past loss of earning capacity – $638,735.00

Interest on past loss of earning capacity – $430,735.05

Future loss of earning capacity – $716,443.02

Past and future loss of superannuation (including interest on past loss of superannuation) – $220,404.87

Future medical expenses – $123,618.35

TOTAL – $2,429,936.29 

Ultimately, on 24 June 2024, the Western Australian District Court ordered judgment be entered for the plaintiff against the defendant in the sum of $2,429,936.29. 

We are specialist abuse lawyers and can help you receive acknowledgement, meaningful apology and financial resolution from those institutions and systems of power that failed to protect you from harm. If you would like advice in relation to a childhood or adult sexual, physical and/or psychological/emotional abuse claim in any jurisdiction in Australia, please reach out to Littles Lawyers today. 

Further Abuse Law information and case law updates can be found on our website.

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