Madeleine West has claimed she was sexually abused as a child by a ‘monster’ and has started a true crime podcast to raise awareness of the difficult issue.
The former Neighbours star, 42, from Melbourne, has now gone public with her story after keeping it a secret for decades so she can help others who are suffering.
Madeline played Dione ‘Dee’ Bliss and Andrea Somers on the soap on and off from 2000 to 2020 and also starred in the WWE movie The Condemned in 2007.
Madeleine West has claimed she was sexually abused as a child by a ‘monster’ that lived in the same town as her and has started a true crime podcast with ex-detective Gary Jubelin (pictured together) to fight back
Madeleine has told how the alleged abuser lived in the same town as her and that the abuse was regular – sometimes even daily. She revealed no other details of the attack and has not named the alleged abuser.
She told The Sun of the alleged abuse: ‘This monster ruined my life. I’ve come out the other side, yes a survivor but happy to own the title of victim.
‘Justice can be achieved. It was never, and never will be, your fault, you are not to blame.’
Difficult: Former Neighbours star Madeleine West has claimed that she was sexually abused as a child by a ‘monster’ that lived in the same town as her
‘I’m now seeking justice. Anyone out there who is posting, watching or hurting a child, your time is up. The wheel is turning.’
She has now launched a new podcast called Predatory to shine the light on the issue of paedophilia along with ex-detective Gary Jubelin.
The former Neighbours star shared a throwback photo on Saturday to Instagram of herself as a child at a birthday party and captioned the photo with some sobering words.
Brave: The actress, 42, from Melbourne, has now gone public with her story after keeping it a secret for decades so she can help others who are suffering
She wrote: ‘I was born Melanie Ann. For most of my life I’ve hated her…. I blamed her for some truly despicable things that happened to her – to me- when I was tiny.
‘Little Melanie was told it was her fault. And I believed it. I ran from Melanie as hard and as fast and as far as I could …so far I even changed my name,’ she added.
‘My full story is not yet ready for the telling, but justice will be served. I’ve joined forces with former detective Gary Jubelin, in a crusade to stop the rot.’
The mother-of-six told her fans her podcast will serve as a ‘checklist’ for parents on how to spot predatory behaviour towards children.
The former Neighbours star shared a throwback photo on Saturday to Instagram of herself as a child at a birthday party and captioned the photo with some sobering words
‘This series provides a checklist for parents, carers, society at large, offering expert guidelines for what to look out for… A guide to help keep kids safe,’ she wrote.
Many of her 92,000 fans were quick to congratulate Madeleine for having the courage to speak out.
One fan told her the podcast ‘is how you change the world. You may be the force behind one child’s world changing for the better.’
Another told Madeleine ‘you should be so proud of yourself’ and a third called her ‘brave, resilient and inspiring.’
The star is also calling for a national public child sex register in Australia and will campaign for changes to laws to fairly compensate victims.
Madeleine told the Herald Sun child predators are often a close friend or family member and abuse their position of trust to get close to children
Madeleine added that paedophiles can be ‘exceptionally calculating’ to get what they want and people often ‘turn the other way’ especially when the abusers are in their ‘inner circle’.
She added child predators are typically not seen as ‘weird’ amongst the wider community but come from a position of trust.
Madeleine told the Herald Sun they are often a close friend or family member and abuse their position of trust to get close to children.
Star: Madeline played Dione ‘Dee’ Bliss and Andrea Somers on the soap on and off from 2000 to 2020 and also starred in the WWE movie The Condemned in 2007
She said: ‘We comfort ourselves with the perception that paedophiles are weirdos and they are not. They insidiously work their way into your life.’
Mr Jubelin added the key to stopping this horrible crime was eliminating the opportunity to offend.
‘To fight any type of crime you have to create a safe environment where crime can’t flourish,’ he said.
Her say: Madeleine has told how the alleged abuser lived in the same town as her and that the abuse was regular – sometimes even daily. She has revealed no other details of the attack and has not named the alleged abuser
The soap actress also told how she is determined not to take any risks with her own six children and always goes with them on playground trips and to birthday parties.
It comes as she prepares to run as an independent candidate in the 2023 NSW state election.
The soap star announced her intentions to run for office during an interview with Studio 10 in March last year.
The Byron Bay-based philanthropist, who spent weeks helping flood recovery efforts in Northern NSW, told the program she’d grown frustrated with how the NSW government handled the catastrophe.
‘I’m not agitating to see change anymore, I want to be change,’ she said, as Studio 10 hosts Sarah Harris and Tristan MacManus cheered.
Busy: It comes as she prepares to run as an independent candidate in the 2023 NSW state election
