Australian Story: July 25

On Monday Australian Story looks at how a dogged detective and a successful banker teamed up to bring an evil predator to justice.

Sascha Chandler had a secret. He kept it from his family. He kept it from his friends. If he told anybody, anybody at all, there would be consequences too terrifying think about.

Who would believe him anyway?

So he kept his secret for years.

From the time he was a cadet at Sydney’s prestigious Barker College in 1990 until he was a prince of the trading floor as one of the youngest bond traders in London.

When his first child was born in 2004, the time came for Chandler to return home and face his demons to seek justice.

He walked into Hornsby police station and gave a statement about the time he was abused by Andrew McIntosh, a cadet instructor at his school.

Detective Andrew Fraser, who was investigating claims that Andrew McIntosh had abused a number of Inverell children in the 1980s, was alerted to Sascha Chandler’s complaint. The detective recognised McIntosh’s modus operandi and took on Sascha’s case.

Chandler and Fraser were tenacious in their pursuit of McIntosh. He was finally arrested but as the trial approached, McIntosh skipped bail and vanished.

He was fleeing on a yacht, when astounding coincidences led to his recapture during a night raid.

In July 2009, Andrew McIntosh was convicted of 24 child sex related offences against Sascha Chandler and 18 child sex offences against three complainants from Inverell. McIntosh is
expected to be sentenced in August.

Chandler asked the judge to lift suppression orders so that he could tell his story in the hope that it will help others.

A new chapter in his life has begun. He has bought some land in rural NSW and built a shed that will form a sanctuary for abused kids.

It airs 8pm Monday on ABC1.