Van Ryn victims paying their own way to attend Sydney sentence hearings

In November last year, Van Ryn, pleaded guilty to 12 child sex offences related to attacks on 10 boys and girls aged eight to 16 between 2006 and 2014.

The sentencing hearing for Van Ryn has been moved to the District Court in Sydney, and the victims’ families, having attended every court appearance in Bega so far, remain keen to follow the proceedings through to a conclusion. 

However, some of the families have found themselves having to pay for their own travel and accommodation costs to attend the court in Sydney, despite initial indications these costs would be covered. 

A father of one of the victims, who cannot be identified, contacted the BDN to share their plight.

“In classic ‘Yes, Minister’ style, we have found ourselves on the bureaucratic hurdy-gurdy, being referred from one department to another with fingers of blame being pointed at each other,” he said.

“Many of us are self-employed small business people. 

“We are losing income to attend court in Sydney plus having to fund very expensive Sydney-priced accommodation.” 

According to the father, one family was told they were ineligible for support because their child was now an adult. 

Another - the grandfather who was asked to read a victim impact statement to the court at the last sitting - was refused financial support because he was not the parent of the victim. 

“I suppose we had an expectation that for a case as major as this we would have had a victim support case manager allocated to help us. 

“Instead, we manage on our own, trying our best to navigate through the maze of a system that seems to treat victims as the problem.” 

Ironically, the father said the families have formed an even tighter bond as a result, as they find the strength in the shared experience. 

“You can’t help but get the feeling that because we live in a regional area somewhat remote from Sydney then we are treated as second-class citizens,” he said.

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