Coast MP reveals his child sex abuse
GOLD Coast MP Rob Molhoek recalls driving through Southport back to work when he suddenly recalled the man who abused him when just 10 years of age.
“I was Gold and Sea FM boss and was heading over Sundale Bridge. I wondered if that bastard was still out there,” Mr Molhoek told the Bulletin.
Almost 30 years after the offence, Mr Molhoek went to the Surfers Paradise police station to make a complaint about the man.
He knew he owed it to others who might have been abused. He discovered his abuser was dead.
“It happened in Southport,” Mr Molhoek said. “I was with my dad. I spent a lot of time with my dad. Dad was a painter. He had a contracting business. He did all the highrises.
“He left me with someone there and went away for an hour. I thought at the time (at what happened) – that was bloody strange. Because I grew up in a loving family, it didn’t have any great impact.”
In State Parliament on Wednesday during the debate about the LNP’s plan for a public child sex offender register, Mr Molhoek – like that moment on the bridge – realised he must speak up.
Mr Molhoek has worked for almost 15 years for Bravehearts, and at charity functions and meetings he has privately shared his personal story to help others.
“I hadn’t planned to go to that place,” he said about Wednesday night. “I had other speech notes. I pushed them aside.”
What sparked Mr Molhoek’s personal speech was the claim by Labor MPs that police could deal with paedophiles and a public register of child sex offenders was not needed.
“With every part of my heart I wish that we could simply leave this matter to the police,” he told Parliament. “I wish that it was as simple as saying that the police are monitoring this issue in our communities so that we can all sleep well at night.”
Southport station was undermanned by about a dozen officers and those left were ferrying prisoners to the Brisbane Watchhouse and back again because of the increased demand for juvenile detention in the city, he said.
“Unfortunately, our police are not there. They are not always available when we need them to monitor this issue in our community.”
Queensland has 3486 reportable child sex offenders but under resourcing means in some communities one officer monitors about 130 offenders, Parliament had been told. Under the LNP policy, a missing offenders register would display photos of sex offenders who fail to report and a local offender search could help parents uncover photographs of offenders who lived nearby.