A child sexual abuse survivor has revealed the shocking reason why his stepmother stopped assaulting him after he fathered her child when he was 15.
Award-winning activist Harrison James became a teenage father when his stepmother, who was in her mid-twenties and had been sexually abusing him, fell pregnant with his child.
The teen had been introduced to his stepmother two years earlier, after reconnecting with his father for the first time since his parents’ divorce.
Even though he was barely 13, his father’s new wife, a 24-year-old Filipino woman, began insidiously breaking down the physical barriers between them until things became sexual.
Speaking on It’s A Lot with Abbie Chatfield, Harrison detailed the traumatic abuse he endured at the hands of his stepmother who mistreated him ‘every day before and after school’ for almost three years.
When he was catching a bus home from school one afternoon, she texted him saying she was pregnant with his child.
Harrison, now 24, told Abbie that the sexual abuse continued after she had given birth, before finally stopping once he turned 16.
‘The last sexual act happened on my 16th birthday. That was the last time I was sexually abused,’ he said.
Abbie Chatfield became emotional while speaking with Harrison James, a survivor of child sexual abuse who became a father at just 15 years of age when his stepmother, who had been sexually abusing him, fell pregnant with his child
He explained it only came to an end because there was a ‘second perpetrator’.
‘We went on a trip to the Philippines to introduce the baby to my stepmother’s parents and sisters,’ he continued.
‘There was a second perpetrator who took me out on a night out and raped me. And then my stepmother used that to say, “you’ve cheated on me”.’
While Harrison faced the abuse, he pushed everyone else away because he feared they might find out about what was going on.
After his parents divorced when he was 10, Harrison reconnected with his father at age 13 and met his stepmother, who was 20 years younger than his dad (pictured: Harrison at 13)
Harrison is now determined to use his traumatic experience as a powerful force for change.
In 2023, he and fellow abuse survivor Jarad Grice launched the #YourReferenceAintRelevant campaign, using New South Wales as a pilot program.
The pair have successfully lobbied the NSW Government to amend section 21A(5A) of the Sentencing Procedure Act 1999 (NSW) so character references can no longer be used when sentencing convicted child predators.
His Filipino stepmother groomed the 13-year-old until things turned sexual and she fathered his daughter (pictured: Harrison at age 15 with his newborn daughter)
A petition was tabled by Greens MP Abigail Boyd, which the Attorney General then moved to legislate.
Discussions are now happening with lawmakers to determine the extent to which they will change the law, which Harrison hopes will completely remove any reference to a perpetrator’s good character.
‘I was molested by my stepmother from the age of 13 to 16, and if that case ever went to court, which it won’t since she fled the country, but if it did, she’d be well within [her] right to utilise a good character reference,’ Harrison said.
‘I see that as a gross injustice of the system.’
The campaign has since expanded in Western Australia, South Australia, ACT and Tasmania.
Harrison said they are treating the NSW campaign as a pilot before moving on to other states in order to uniformly eliminate the defence in every Australian state and territory.
‘Each jurisdiction has very specific language and we want to ensure that we take it one state at a time to cover all bases,’ he said.
‘We want to ensure that there are no legal ramifications around the changes and that survivors are put in the best position they can be in.
‘At the end of the day, I think that a majority of people think that a paedophile cannot be of good character.’
The #YourReferenceAintRelevant campaign, assisted by Greens MP Abigail Boyd (centre), has now successfully lobbied the NSW Government to remove any ‘good character’ defence that paedophiles could previously use in the state. (Left: Jarad Grice, and right: Harrison James)
