A former South Australian police officer has been sentenced to four years in prison for the sexual abuse of his stepdaughter. The victim, who chose to have her abuser's name revealed, expressed relief at the sentencing and encouraged other survivors to come forward.
A former South Australian police officer who sexually abused his stepdaughter has been jailed for four years. A child sex abuse survivor has spoken out after her abuser — a former police officer and her then-stepfather — was jailed for four years. The teenager, who has granted permission for the identity of Simon Gorzechowski to be revealed knowing it may identify her, said it was a 'huge relief' that he would be behind bars for another two years.
'I'm happy it's over, it's been a very long process for two years,' she said outside South Australia's District Court after the sentencing hearing. She said reporting the abuse had been 'worth it' and urged other sexual abuse survivors to contact police. 'If anybody has gone through something like this I would 100 per cent advise you to step forward and say something about it,' she said. 'It's a long and hard process and it's the most difficult thing that I've been through but, in the end, it's definitely worth it.'That was one of the main reasons I actually spoke up about it as well was knowing that I could possibly help other people and boost confidence in other young girls that might have been through the same thing. A jury last year found Gorzechowski, 41, guilty of two counts of unlawful sexual intercourse. In sentencing, Auxiliary Judge Gordon Barrett said Gorzechowski's offending was a 'breach of trust', and that he had been a stepfather for about a decade at the time of the offending. 'Although the offending had nothing to do with your job, you were a policeman at the time and your stepdaughter was, for that reason apart from any other, entitled to trust you not to do anything improper to her,' he said. He said Gorzechowski had a tendency to be verbally abusive toward his stepdaughter, which had made it 'more difficult for her to tell anyone about what you were doing to her'. He said Gorzechowski's lawyer had told the court the charges were isolated, having occurred on the same occasion after he had been drinking. However, Auxiliary Judge Barrett said Gorzechowski's actions after the incident, when he was sober, included saying and doing things that indicated he 'had a sexual interest' in his stepdaughter. 'There were also text messages in which you said that you loved her, not as a father and daughter,' he said. The judge said Gorzechowski told his stepdaughter the morning after the offending that he should not have done what he did. He said he accepted Gorzechowski was experiencing a number of stressors in the years leading up to the offending, including missing out of a promotion within the police force, and suspension from the force because he refused vaccinations for COVID-19. The victim's mother said she was grateful for her daughter's supporters, who packed the court room as Gorzechowski was jailed. She said it had been 'absolutely horrific to hear the details of what he had actually done to her … none of us had any idea and she had to suffer for so long, it's just sickening'. 'The fact that we had so many people supporting us and was brave enough to come out and actually speak about it … I think it's a huge weight off our mind now that it's finished,' she said. Gorzechowski's sentence was backdated to September, when he was taken into custody. He will be eligible to apply for release on parole in March 2027
SEXUAL ABUSE POLICE OFFICER SENTENCING SURVIVOR SOUTH AUSTRALIA
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