An ex-Bega teenage victim says he thinks there’s a million new laws that could be added to the banning of criminals from declaring bankruptcy to avoid court ordered compensation orders.
Edan van Haren was awarded over $1.4 million after the conviction of notorious paedophile, former Bega Cheese boss Maurice Van Ryn but has not received a single cent because he declared himself bankrupt.
Edan gave up his ‘victims anonymity’ to lead a public campaign for the introduction of the Survivors Law, which has now passed through Federal Parliament.
“I feel heard. The government, I guess, is on my side,” he said.
“I feel supported but not only just politicians, but, you know, the amount of people that were also supported the change.
“I think it is amazing. For me personally that’s always been a big thing. It’s always been like, how the hell is it that the perpetrator just effectively wipe away all the damage they did with a bankruptcy? So not clearing it, even just at a purely emotional level is just like, yeah, amazing.”
“I did this so no one will ever have to feel exactly what I felt when I found out that the law was not on the victim’s side and I was about to get fucking screwed,” Edan said.
“I definitely remember how angry I was that day. Hopefully no one will ever have that feeling, so that’s good, I’m glad no one will ever have to feel like they’ve just been manipulated again by fucking serial manipulators, that are called paedophiles.”
The 28-year-old said what occurred to him still impacts his life more than a decade on.
“It’s always subconsciously on your mind, if that makes sense. You’ve always got like I don’t know, like a, I call it like a hand over your head just like trying to manipulate you and control you,” Edan said.
“Hopefully moving forward I can work out strategies and all this stuff to, kind of, I guess, change my life into fitting around what this, I mean, I’m never gonna get fixed. It’s just like, It’s just, it is what it is. There’s no healing it,” he said.
“It’s like learning to accept it and figuring out ways to still be able to move forward and have a life that is the most of what you can make out of it.”
While Edan welcomed the action taken by Assistant Treasurer Daniel Mulino, he still believes there is so much more reform that need sto be made.
“I just hope we can go a step further and we can continue to progress Australia into the future and have justice and compensation for victims that don’t get a choice, victims like myself don’t get a choice in what happened during their childhood.
“Honestly, I think there’s a thousand laws you could add to all this stuff especially like super. I’d like to see all the super go from, the perpetrator to the victim. I understand the government wants to make sure people don’t go on the pension, but if they don’t do it, it’s just going to end up with victims ending up on the pension when they get to retirement age anyway because they’ve spent their whole life struggling.
“He (Maurice van Ryn) will forever be in debt until it’s paid just like anyone that lives their life with a huge dead over their heads and just kind of exists.
“The only thing I can 100% guarantee is that the debt won’t be wiped.”
Edan also thanked the countless people who helped him campaign to introduce the Survivors Law.
“There was probably 50 to 100 people involved in this law change. I probably did the least amount of actual work. I just kind of had to do interviews and stuff like that,” he said.
“Thank you for making all of us victims feel like the system isn’t against us and thank you for being my voice. I think that’s what I’d say.”
Does Edan have anything he would like to say to van Ryn who is serving a a total of 22 years in jail for abusing nine children between 2003 and 2014.
” I’m not gonna even waste my breath. He can live his life how he wants to live it and I’m going to live my life, how I’m going to,” he said.
“Obviously I’m angry about him but I did this for a lot more than just him if he thinks that that’s the reason that I’m doing it, then. You know, he can, he can think that but it’s like, he’s nothing. He’s a, he’s a speck. He’s just a thing that obviously caused a lot of damage but it is what it is. There’s no, no redo button.”
Van Ryan will become eligible for parole in 2029.
Support is available 24/7 for anyone impacted by sexual assault on 1800 424 017.
