Survivor of abuse at Melbourne hospital told it was ‘illegal to make prank calls’

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Woman known as AWI told commission she was sexually abused by hospital volunteer Harry Pueschel and another unnamed volunteer on several occasions in 1981.
Woman known as AWI told commission she was sexually abused by hospital volunteer Harry Pueschel and another unnamed volunteer on several occasions in 1981. Photograph: Tracey Nearmy/AAP

A survivor of child sex abuse at Melbourne’s Royal Children’s hospital was told by a staff member it was illegal to make prank calls when she tried to alert them to the attacks.

The woman, known as AWI, has told a royal commission she was sexually abused by hospital volunteer Harry Pueschel and another unnamed volunteer on several occasions in 1981, when she was 11.

When she called the hospital administrator’s office years later to report the abuse and her fears Pueschel was still working at the hospital, she was told by a woman “you are wasting time and resources of the hospital by making up stories”.

AWI was admitted to the hospital for a five-month stay for treatment of asthma and cystic fibrosis. During her time there, she says, she was molested by Pueschel in the ward’s playroom.

“My friend didn’t like going to the playroom either,” AWI told the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse on Tuesday.

“She would often say to me words to the effect ‘you need to hide when Harry comes in or get sicker so you don’t have to go to the playroom with him’.”

On another occasion she was molested by an unnamed hospital volunteer who left her crying in a cupboard.

The 11-year-old was then accused of stealing a wallet and coat from the same cupboard. As punishment she was confined to bed and her parents were not allowed to visit her for three days.

“After this incident I wanted to die,” she said. She told the commission she had made an attempt on her life.

When she tried to call the hospital administrator years later, she was told by a woman who answered the phone it was illegal to make prank calls.

Pueschel’s employment at the hospital was terminated in 1998 after AWI sent an email to then hospital chief executive Dr John De Campo.

As an adult, AWI was in and out of medical clinics to be treated for depression and panic attacks, and was haunted by thoughts of suicide, she said.

“The knowledge that Harry had continued to stay working with children for nearly 20 years consumed me,” AWI said.

The commission is exploring what the the hospital knew of the volunteers, the alleged abuse and whether relevant information was passed between the police, the hospital and AWI.

The hearing continues.

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