Child abuse survivor: extension of abuser's jail sentence still 'falls short'

In short:

South Australian man Mike Worsman was 12 years old when he was sexually abused in Canberra in the 1990s by a then 15-year-old.

The man, now in his 40s, was initially jailed for more than two years but after an appeal, he was re-sentenced to four years and seven months.

Mr Worsman said that was still inadequate and called on the justice system to start "listening to victims".

A child abuse survivor says the extension of his abuser's jail sentence by an ACT court still "falls short" of reflecting the seriousness of the offences.

Warning: This story contains details some readers may find distressing.

South Australian man Mike Worsman was 12 years old when he was sexually abused in Canberra in the 1990s, by the then-15 year old.

His abuser — now aged in his 40s — pleaded guilty to five charges, including acts of indecency, in 2024.

Last year, ACT Supreme Court Justice David Mossop jailed the man for two years and seven months — to be suspended after 16 months.

Prosecutors appealed the decision and today the man was re-sentenced to four years and seven months' jail — not to be suspended until June 2028.

The court's reasons for the decision on the appeal are yet to be published.

At the time of the initial sentencing last year, Mr Worsman said he felt let down by the system.

Today, he said the new sentence still was not long enough.

"What I'd hopefully allowed the ACT court to do is find one of these people and put them where they need to be, I hoped, for life," Mr Worsman said.

"We've found that that's not the case today.

"They've been given some extra time, but certainly not what I was hoping for."

'The system is there to serve victims'

Mr Worsman says he felt compelled to report the assaults to police in 2019, when he discovered someone else had suffered at the hands of his abuser.

He took part in a five-hour interview with police in South Australia before he was told the incidents needed to be reported to the Australian Federal Police in the ACT.

Mr Worsman said it took 18 months for his case to be passed on to the AFP.

After going through another interview process with police, he had to wait for his abuser to complete a sentence in a South Australian jail, before the man could face court proceedings in the ACT.

He says the appeal process after last year's sentencing added to the trauma.

"I'm lucky, I live a good life, I can put up with the mental health strains that it puts on you,"

Mr Worsman said.

"But it has put a strain on me and my family to go through seven years of fighting against courts, fighting against the system to get this extra 18 months in prison."

He said he believed "better support starts with listening to victims".

"You know, it starts with actually seeing us as people and that the system is there to serve victims, rather than it being the other way round where I'm asking something of them," he said.

"When it gets that rare opportunity — that really rare opportunity — to put a serial child sex offender behind bars where society is safe from them, and this just falls short … it falls short."