Ex-NSW police officer says she was drugged and raped by senior colleague

Former NSW Police officer alleges she was raped by senior colleague When Amy joined the NSW Police Force in the 1990s, she wanted to stand up for those who were unable to stand up for themselves. She was among just 10 per cent of officers who were female at the time and said women were "very unwanted" within the boys' club that dominated the force. "Their nickname for females was 'front bums'… that was common police slang," Amy, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, said. "You were either classified as a slut or a lesbian … because there was no other reason you'd join the police force [as a woman]." 'Blatant sexism and sexual harassment' At 25 years old, Amy said she was older than most recruits and believed it made her more resilient. Before being medically retired, Amy said throughout her 30-year career,she witnessed and experienced blatant sexism and sexual harassment by her male colleagues on the force, often reporting the behaviour or calling it out. But in 2014, she claimed she became a victim herself, allegedly at the hands of a senior male police officer who she said had a reputation for preying on women. After attending a work function in Sydney, Amy and several other officers went to a bar for drinks. As she went to leave, she said that a senior male officer insisted she have "one more drink" and went to the bar to buy it for her. "That's the last thing I remember … the next thing I knew I was sitting on the floor of my hotel room trying to use my phone, my limbs weren't working properly," she said. "I turned around and he was standing there naked … he picked me up from behind and dumped me on the bed on my stomach. "He grabbed a clump of my hair and held my head down on the bed, pulled up my skirt and raped me." Amy said she could not move her limbs or fight back during the assault and when it was over, she managed to tell him to "just go". "I couldn't move, I couldn't function," she said. "I've only ever had procedures in hospital a couple of times but my mouth felt like coming out of an anaesthetic … I thought I've been drugged." The work function continued the following day and Amy said her alleged rapist repeatedly called her and sent her messages. "He texted me and rung me so many times, saying, 'Are we good? Are we OK? Don't say anything to anyone about last night'," she said. "I sat through [the work function] until it finished without speaking … then I just went to bed and cried. "He was just a sexual predator. And he still is and he's still in the cops." Male officer bragged about drugging women Amy said the man was known for making "vulgar comments" and she had previously heard him mention "slipping a rohy" into women's drinks, referring to the date rape drug Rohypnol. "He'd make comments about that and the other guys would laugh," she said. "But I think he was actually telling the truth now." The next morning, Amy said she woke up and called 1800 RESPECT to talk about what happened. "I felt so stupid, it was so humiliating … I'm an experienced police officer and I'm telling them that I've been raped," she said. "I decided I needed to tell my boss, I was falling apart, I just wasn't coping." Amy said she visited a sexual assault clinic "a couple times" in the following days to be tested for sexually transmitted diseases. She said she then disclosed the assault to her NSW Police commander and her immediate supervisor but told them she was not prepared to initiate a criminal investigation at that stage. Sexual assault cases 'a runaway train' once reported Amy had teenage children and a husband and said she did not want to put them through a criminal trial, which she believed would also lead to media coverage. She said she also had no faith in the criminal justice system's treatment of sexual assault victims. "I've worked enough sexual assaults to know how they work," she said. "It's a runaway train, once you provide a statement you lose all control and all I needed at that time was some control. "You really need to have been beaten within an inch of your life and dying on the side of the road to get a sexual assault conviction." Instead, she said she asked her superiors to support her by protecting her from working on cases involving sexual assault. "It didn't work … they put me in situations that became untenable for me to be there," she said. "So I had to go off sick and once you go off sick, it's sort of a death knell for the rest of your career, you just get thrown in the scrap heap." Several years later, Amy learned of the Sexual Assault Reporting Option (SARO), which allows victims to report an incident to NSW Police without triggering a formal investigation. She submitted a detailed SARO report about her alleged rape, in the hope it would trigger an internal investigation into the alleged perpetrator, who she disclosed was a serving police officer. Following her SARO report, Amy was contacted by the NSW Police Professional Standards Command who asked if she wanted to make a formal report, which she declined. But she claimed many of her colleagues knew who the alleged perpetrator was and if they had been questioned, police would have been able to identify him. She said she had hoped her SARO report would trigger an internal investigation and potentially lead to her perpetrator's dismissal from the force, without her being forced to testify in court. "What I wanted them to do with the information was to actually have an investigation … and deal with him departmentally, but I didn't want to be the one who had to control that," she said. "If they looked at the stations that he's worked at and asked a few questions, if those women felt like they would have immunity, they would come forward." Alleged rapist still serving police officer Under the NSW Police Act, the NSW Police commissioner can remove a police officer from the force if they no longer have confidence in their suitability "based on their competence, integrity, performance, or conduct", regardless of criminal charges. Amy's alleged rapist remains on the NSW Police Force. A statement from NSW Police acknowledged the alleged rape was reported back in 2014 and said "the alleged victim's wishes at the time were considered". "With the information available at the time, no further investigative action could be taken," the statement said. "Investigators have now spoken to the alleged victim, with her consent, and are working to obtain further information. "Investigators will continue to engage and support the victim through the process." The statement said it was "not appropriate to comment further on the matter". "The NSW Police Force has a responsibility to the wellbeing and privacy of the victim and to ensure the integrity and thoroughness of any investigation," the statement said. Her story comes just three months after a NSW Police independent culture review, triggered by an ABC News investigation, found 1.1 per cent of more than 4,500 surveyed said they had been sexually assaulted by a colleague in the past five years alone. According to the report, the majority of the respondents who reported sexual assault were women, accounted for 2.5 per cent of all women respondents and 0.3 per cent of men to respond. Amy said she hoped her story and the culture review would prompt NSW Police leadership to implement a system for employees to safely report sexual misconduct and ensure action was taken, regardless of whether they wanted criminal charges to be filed. "I don't want this to be a scathing comment on the police force as a whole … but the ones who do behave in this way, they need to be dealt with properly and it's not happening and it doesn't happen," she said.