`Burn in hell', victim tells Orkopoulos
Stapleton, John. The Australian; Canberra, A.C.T. [Canberra, A.C.T] 09 May 2008: 7.
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ONE of convicted pedophile Milton Orkopoulos's victims yesterday told the former NSW government minister he could "burn in hell, you grub".
ONE of convicted pedophile Milton Orkopoulos's victims yesterday told the former NSW government minister he could "burn in hell, you grub".
Ben Blackburn, 20, made the comment as he passed Orkopoulos in the dock after he finished reading his victim statement to Newcastle Court yesterday.
Statements from three of Orkopoulos's victims were provided to the court as part of sentencing submissions. The former minister for Aboriginal affairs was found guilty in March of a total of 30 charges, including 18 counts of supplying a prohibited drug, seven counts of homosexual intercourse with a male below the age of 18, two counts of indecent assault and one count of possessing child pornography.
Orkopoulos sat quietly in the dock throughout the proceedings. He was visibly thinner and paler and showed little emotion, apart from a smirk as Mr Blackburn uttered his parting remark.
Mr Blackburn, now 20, became tearful shortly after he began reading his statement.
He said he had suffered continuing nightmares involving Orkopoulos's voice.
He also said he felt betrayed by the NSW Labor Party for protecting the politician.
Other statements from two of his young victims detailed their journey from a happy adolescence into depression and addiction following the abuse.
One boy, who cannot be named, said he was a normal 15-year-old when it all began.
Later he lost his friends as he became a "hopeless junkie" and is now infected with Hepatitis C.
Another young man said he had been "a normal 15-year-old with so much potential" when the abuse started.
Orkopoulos will be sentenced on May 21.
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