The Family Friend No One Suspected
3/11/20261 hr 19 min
Her life changed forever when her five-year-old daughter, Rose, bravely spoke up about a trusted family friend sexually assaulting her.
That moment led Michelle to discover that both of her daughters had endured abuse for years, and it marked the start of the family’s journey toward justice and healing.
In this episode, Michelle shares how she and her daughters, Pippa and Rose, navigated their challenges together, supported by their older sister Maggie and their father. Now adults, Pippa and Rose are using their voices to drive positive change in the way child victims are tre...
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First 90 secondsGemma Bath· Host0:00
This episode contains discussions of child sexual abuse. Please take care while listening. [gentle music] It's a typical Sunday morning in October 2013 at the Milthorpe family home in Albury, New South Wales. Michelle is roused awake by her five-year-old daughter, Rose, who desperately wants to tell her something. That something will change the family's lives forever. In that moment, Rose discloses a shocking incident of sexual assault she says happened at the hands of a family friend. As her mom struggles to get her head around what her little girl has just told her, Rose asks another question, "Mom, can I watch TV now?" "Of course." Left alone, Michelle is in a state of shock. She can't speak. She vomits while trying to tell her husband. Rose wouldn't say it if it wasn't true. She sits down on her eight-year-old daughter Pippa's bed and gently asks about Rose's disclosure. Michelle can feel the bile returning. It's been happening to both girls for years. For Michelle, she will remember today as the worst of her life, but for her girls, it's the day things got a little bit better. It's the day the abuse finally stopped. I'm Gemma Bath, and you're listening to True Crime Conversations, a podcast