Abuser denies ‘hiding’

DISGRACED Launceston arts patron John Wayne Millwood has denied he’s “gone into hiding” after not having paid his sexual abuse victim $5.3 million in damages.

In December last year, the 76-year-old was ordered by the Supreme Court of Tasmania to pay the survivor – who he molested as a child during the 1980s– the nationally recordbreaking amount.

On Monday, the survivor said Millwood still had not paid him, and that Tasmania Police had been unable to locate him to ensure he met his obligations as a registered sex offender.

Millwood told the Mercury “I’m not hiding” when asked about his whereabouts, saying he was still in Tasmania.

When asked if he intended to pay his victim the $5.3 million, Millwood replied “that’s my business”.

In an email sighted by the Mercury, Tasmania Police told the survivor on June 27 that it had been “chasing” Millwood to complete his annual check.

Police said the Mt Stuart resident had apparently gone, temporarily at least, to Queensland.

The survivor wants to serve the sexual abuser with Federal Court documents that will see him declared bankrupt on September 8.

According to documents filed with the Federal Court, if Millwood does not attend the upcoming hearing, the matter may be dealt with in his absence, and the court could make a sequestration order declaring him bankrupt.

Millwood said the Federal Court papers had been served on him.

“I have nothing to say,” he said.

The survivor claims Millwood, the former manager of Launceston Pathology and the owner of a significant Australian colonial art collection, had divested himself of millions of dollars.

“I am confident we will recover damages in full. Paedophiles cannot weasel their way out of liability in the way Millwood is attempting. Nor will hiding from process servers prevent his bankruptcy,” he said.

“When the Federal Court declares him bankrupt, we will begin clawing back assets that he divested.”

The Mercury previously reported Millwood stalked, harassed, threatened and “gaslit” his victim for years after being confronted in 1999.

The survivor had been a high-achieving student, but said his future career had been weighed down by post traumatic stress disorder and persistent depressive disorder due to Millwood’s abuse.

Millwood was sentenced to four years’ jail in December 2016, with a non-parole period of two years, after he ultimately pleaded guilty to one count of maintaining a sexual relationship with a young person.

Millwood did not appear in court during the civil proceedings.