Compensation claims based on false allegations in family law

The Australian Newspaper

Original (full) article by Nicola Berkovic in The Australian 25th May 2020

This is a dad we know and have supported. It is truly a tragic story. 

Extracts:

"Taxpayers have paid out $10,000 to a girl as compensation for being a victim of sexual abuse despite two Family Court judges rejecting the allegations made during a custody dispute.

The mother’s sexual abuse ­allegations against the father — first made in 2012 while they were battling in the family courts over their daughter — were not substantiated by police or Family and Community Services. The allegations were also rejected by two Family Court judges.

Family Court judge Peter Tree in April 2015 found that the child was not at risk of harm in her ­father’s care. “This child cannot grow up with the belief that her father sexually abused her, or presents an unacceptable risk of sexual harm to her,” he said. “The evidence simply does not reasonably support such a conclusion.”

Following further Family Court litigation, Justice Michael Baumann found in February that Mr Grainger was a “thoroughly decent human being” and the child was not at “any risk of physical, sexual or emotional harm in the father’s care”.

In contrast, he said the mother’s behaviour and her view of the father was “likely to distort the child’s emotional wellbeing”. 

Mr Grainger said he ­became aware of the payment only in 2017, when his ex-wife referred to it in court documents. Since then, he said she had been “waving” evidence of the compensation payout around as “evidence” that he had abused his daughter, which had led to him being harassed online. “It’s devastating,” he said. “Not only have I lost my daughter through the Family Court, I’m now being called a pedophile and there’s nothing I can do about it. This has effectively been endorsed by Victims ­Services. I just find it crazy.”

Police had told him they would not investigate the matter.