ACA: Hey Dad! stories caused, not hindered, investigation.

Looks like Media Watch will indeed be tackling the Hey Dad! story tonight, with A Current Affair Executive Producer Grant Williams today forwarding TV Tonight a copy of a statement he has issued to the ABC show.

Following the naming of a man at the centre of abuse allegations on ACA last week, Williams contends that the show has not hindered a police investigation, but caused one that would otherwise not have been initiated.

The exchange no doubt follows some suggestions that lawyers may argue the media frenzy could make it difficult for the man at the centre of allegations to get a fair trial, and could even result in any case being thrown out of court.

Seven’s Today Tonight contends a story it ran on Friday night, pursuing an agent for Hey Dad! cast members, was in response to similar suggestions, while others hint it simply turned on the story it couldn’t get.

Meanwhile Woman’s Day, which broke the Monahan story, today has a “reunion” photo (pictured) with most of the cast supporting her claims, including Matthew Krok (centre). This is despite last week Julie McGregor saying she could only speculate who was at the centre of the allegations and Chris Mayer saying he believed the alleged perpetrator was “off-screen.”

Monahan, who says she has received hate mail since making her allegations, is understood to be lodging a statement with NSW Police today.

The following statement is likely to appear as part of tonight’s Media Watch at 9:20pm tonight on ABC1:

STATEMENT BY GRANT WILLIAMS, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, A CURRENT AFFAIR, NINE NETWORK

I personally salute the courage of Sarah Monahan and every other alleged victim and witness who has come forward to ACA in response to allegations of sexual abuse raised on our program.

All ACA staff connected with this investigation acted with the utmost integrity and sensitivity in their dealings with these matters and I personally appraised NSW Police of the progress of our inquiries from the outset.

ACA has in no way hindered a police investigation – to the contrary – it has in fact CAUSED a police investigation that would NOT have otherwise been initiated.

The numerous victims and witnesses now in contact and being formally interviewed by NSW Police were ONLY identified as a direct result of ACA’s reports.

Any suggestion that evidence provided by victims and witnesses could or would be compromised in the event that they WERE or WERE NOT paid to tell their version of events is patently offensive to those victims and witnesses – especially given the nature of the allegations.

It should be further noted that ACA gathered material from other alleged victims and witnesses without dealing with those matters on the program.

Media speculation regarding any possible difficulties that the Crown might encounter should any of these matters be brought before a court is plainly a nonsense. The alternative to the position as it stands would be that NO victims were identified – NO witnesses were identified – and NO investigation commenced – let alone a prosecution.

If these matters were raised on ‘Four Corners’ I’m sure they’d be widely lauded (at least at the ABC) as a fine piece of investigative journalism.

I appreciate the positive outcome of our reports does not suit the agenda of the Media Watch program.

Thank you for the opportunity to present a response.

Yours sincerely

Grant Williams
Executive Producer
A Current Affair
Nine Network Australia