Just over the hill literally from RMC Duntroon in Canberra is ADFA, the Australian Defence Force Academy, immediately adjacent to the north. See the aerial map below.
Now the reason we mention this is that the bastardisation and abuse culture at both the Army’s Royal Military College at Duntroon and that of ADFA are intertwined.
Poignantly, ADFA had been established at this site in 1986 as a military tri-service university for the Australian Air Force, Navy and Army officer class cadets directly from high school graduation.
Julian Knight attended RMC in 1987 (January 1987 intake). His lead bully, Philip Reed, was the training company Kokoda Company at the time. Reed had graduated from ADFA. ADFA was also where the ADFA Skype Sex scandal took place later in 2011 – a senior cadet videoed having sex with another cadet in barracks and it being live broadcast on Skype software to other cadets on ADFA barracks. Read More: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-09/adfa-cadet-sacked-over-skype-sex-scandal/5080834
ADFA – just over Canberra’s RMC Duntroon hill – not far away at all
ADFA’s Skype Sex Scandal:
‘ADFA cadet Daniel McDonald sacked over Skype sex scandal’
Saturday 9 November 2013
<< The Army has sacked one of the men at the centre of the Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA) Skype scandal.
Cadet Daniel McDonald, 21, (photo above) secretly filmed himself having sex with a female cadet and the vision was broadcast via Skype (by Cadet Dylan Deblaquiere – photo above in background) to several of their (ADFA) colleagues in 2011.
Last month, he was sentenced to two 12-month good behaviour bonds by the ACT Supreme Court and was cleared to resume his studies at ADFA. (What bullshit morals!)
Earlier this week, the Chief of Army David Morrison defended Defence’s handling of the case after the victim, known as “Kate”, questioned why McDonald was allowed to continue his military career.
Today, Defence released a statement saying McDonald had been told it intended to sack him in mid-September and after giving him an opportunity to respond, his services were terminated as of last night.
It says his conduct is inconsistent with the Army’s values and the standards expected of a member of the Defence Force.
Dylan Deblaquiere, 21, the other cadet involved in the scandal, was sentenced to a single 12-month good behaviour bond and has since left the military.
Victim ‘Kate’ says the incident destroyed her life
The female cadet at the centre of the scandal says it resulted in her being bullied out of the military and her dream job.
In an exclusive interview with the ABC’s 7.30 program earlier this week, Kate said she was determined to pursue a military career even after she went public about her ordeal.
However, the 21-year-old said she was harassed repeatedly at different Defence bases around the country.
“[Some] boys in the room across from me thought it was fun to terrorise me and call me the Skype slut continually every time I left my room,” she said.
Kate is set to take legal action against the military, saying a desire to change the culture within the Defence Force was her primary motivation. “It’s also about getting me the resources that I need to start my life again,” she said.
She is set to be discharged from the military on medical and psychological grounds. >>
Sound familiar?
‘Submissions begin in sex scandal review’
27th June 2011, by Andrea Hayward, AAP, https://www.couriermail.com.au/ipad/submissions-begin-in-sex-scandal-review/news-story/85ea88ce2b993ec29d798b3463174a5c
A review of the treatment of women at the Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA), prompted by the notorious ADFA Skype Sex Scandal, will start taking submissions tomorrow.
Sex discrimination commissioner Elizabeth Broderick is leading the review, which will look at the treatment of women in the ADFA and Defence in general.
It was ordered by Defence Minister Stephen Smith after a secret film of a female cadet having sex with a male cadet was allegedly beamed live to other cadets in a different room over the internet.
Ms Broderick said submissions for the first phase of the review, specifically the treatment of women at ADFA, would be accepted from Monday until July 8.
“Phase one of our review will be to assess the current culture of ADFA in relation to women,” she said. “We will not be making findings of fact in relation to any individual incidents but will be using surveys, consultations and other strategies to assess the current culture.”
Submissions must address one or all terms of reference for the review.
“I would particularly like to encourage current and former ADFA cadets, ADFA graduates – especially those who have graduated in the last three years – ADFA personnel and the families and sponsor families of ADFA cadets to make submissions,” Ms Broderick said.
The full terms of reference are available on the Australian Human Rights Commission website at www.humanrights.gov.au/defencereview.
Ms Broderick said unless people making submissions request confidentiality, submissions will be posted on the website.
Submissions for the second phase of the review, which will consider the treatment of women in the Australian Defence Force Academy more broadly, will be advertised later in the year.
‘Skype cadet linked to second scandal’
14 October 2013, https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/skype-cadet-linked-to-second-scandal/wr4r3c6sh
Less than two years after his central role in a Skype sex scandal, Daniel McDonald allegedly helped found an all-male sex initiation ring at Australia’s defence academy.
McDonald was allegedly among a group of cadets from the Australian Defence Force Academy’s (ADFA) football team who formed a group known as LOML (love of my life).
“(They) performed sex acts on each other by way of initiation into a football team,” Australian Federal Police Detective Sergeant Anthony Crocker told the ACT Supreme Court on Monday.
The group existed for about nine months before it was exposed at a Canberra nightclub in June, in what Vice Chief of the Defence Force Air Marshal Mark Binskin described as “drunken stupidity”.
Seven cadets were suspended over the incident.
McDonald’s lawyer, James Glissan QC, said his client was involved by association only as captain of the football team.
“He was suspended merely because he was a member of the group but not because he was present at the incident that led to the suspension,” he said.
McDonald, who used a hidden camera to film himself having sex with a female cadet in his ADFA dormitory in 2011, faced sentencing submissions on Monday after being found guilty in August of indecency and offensive broadcasting.
The 21-year-old, who remains suspended on full pay from ADFA, is likely to be sacked from the defence force as acting Justice John Nield confirmed on Monday that McDonald would be convicted on the
Skype matter when he is sentenced on October 23.
McDonald heard a stinging victim impact statement read by the woman who was the subject of the footage he streamed to seven cadets in a nearby room.
“You stole my dignity,” said the now 20-year old, who cannot be named for legal reasons. “My name scarred, my life destroyed. “You could not have hurt me more had you taken a bat and beaten me with it.” She said McDonald and his friends used her as an object. “You reduced me to nothing more than an animal,” she said. She was “shattered” when she learned what happened and rejects McDonald’s claims that she consented to have sex on camera. “I became nothing more than `that Skype slut’ … the abuse and violation I was subjected to was unbearable,” she said.
Prosecutor Kylie Weston-Scheuber said McDonald and co-accused Dylan Deblaquiere, who was also found guilty of arranging the Skype transmission, have failed to show remorse or explain their actions.
She said people would find it “strange” that men would want to watch their mates having sex, or to have sex watched by people they knew.
Mr Glissan said the two young men had been stupid and irresponsible. “You are dealing with two young men at the end of their adolescence acting like extremely foolish young children,” he said.
Justice Nield acknowledged their youth but added “they can drive at 17, marry at 18 and fight for their country at 18”.
Prosecutors profiled McDonald as a man who habitually broke the rules at the Canberra academy and are seeking jail terms for both him and Deblaquiere.
( What rules? For senior cadets in the military is a friggen ‘free for all’! )
‘ADFA Skype Sex Cadet Faces Another Lewd Scandal Dubbed as… “Love of My Life” ‘
14 Oct 2013, by Athena Yenko, https://www.ibtimes.com.au/adfa-skype-sex-cadet-faces-another-lewd-scandal-dubbed-love-my-life-1319958
In the wake of a trial against Skype sex cadet Daniel McDonald happening in the Supreme Court Monday, Oct 14, an Australian Federal Police, Detective Sergeant Tony Crocker, revealed that Mr McDonald will also be facing charges for another scandal involving a group called Love of My Life.
The group Love of My Life was reportedly requiring ADFA football members to engage sexual acts on each other as part of the initiation rites.
Mr Crocker stated during the hearing happening Monday that Mr McDonald was a founding member of the initiation group. However, Mr McDonald’s lawyer James Glissan QC defended his client, saying that Mr Mc Donald was only involved by association with Love of My Life because he was the captain of the football team.
“He was suspended merely because he was a member of the group but not because he was present at the incident that led to the suspension,” Mr Glissan argued.
Back in 2011, Mr McDonald, filmed himself while performing sexual acts with a female cadet. While the woman admitted that the sex was mutual, she said that she did not know that the sex was being filmed. And worse, the sexual act was being broadcast through Skype by another cadet, Dylan Deblaquiere, for the entertainment of five other cadet members.
The hearing is yet to reach its final sentencing for accused, Mr McDonald.
In the progression of the hearing, the victim told court that she suffered serious episode of depression and had admitted planning to kill herself resulting from Mr McDonald’s and Mr Deblaquiere’s Skype sex scandal. What made matters worse for her was that she was called names like “a slut,” “a skank” and “dirty whore.”
At present, she fears that she will not be able to overcome the emotional trauma she had because of the scandal, she told the court. “I sank into a deep depression… I turned to alcohol… I cried uncontrollably. I contemplated suicide on more than one occasion”.
She confessed feeling as low as animals and had never trust and engaged in any intimate relationship since the scandal.
Acting Justice John Nield tried to make things bearable for the victim saying that “It must be said, of course, that none of it was any of your doing.”
‘The Skype sex scandal victim speaks. What she has to say is devastating’
November 5, 2013, by Melissa Wellham, Mamamia, https://www.mamamia.com.au/skype-sex-scandal-adfa/
<< ‘Kate’ speaks out on ABC’s 7.30 Report…
[ Females! Do NOT join the Military if you know what’s good for you! ]
[ Find an alternative path. ]
Two-and-a-half years ago, ‘Kate’s’ story blew open the tightly closed doors of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) and exposed the types of institutionalised sexism and bad behaviour that have made headlines since.
Last night, Kate, her face blacked out, spoke publicly for the first time about her ordeal, in an interview with ABC’s 7.30 Report. 20-year-old Kate was the young woman involved in the now infamous ADFA Skype sex scandal.
Back in 2011, she began a casual relationship with a fellow cadet, Daniel McDonald. The pair had consensual sex but McDonald did not get permission to film and broadcast the act. And yet – that’s exactly what he did. Their encounter was broadcast via webcam to six other classmates at ADFA, who were sitting in another room. Sill photographs of the video were then circulated among other cadets at the academy using mobile phones.
In August, two men were found guilty of charges relating to the Skype sex scandal: Daniel McDonald himself, now 21, and Dylan Deblaquiere, 20. They were both found guilty of sending offensive material over the internet without consent. McDonald was further found guilty of an act of indecency against Kate.
But last month, McDonald and Deblaquiere faced the ACT Supreme Court, and received only 12-month good-behaviour bonds over the incident. In sentencing, Acting Justice John Nield said he had struggled with whether or not the young men should face a jail term, but ultimately concluded that, “I have given this question thorough and anxious thought … and the answer must be, and is, no.”
Kate, who says she has lost her career, livelihood, health and education as a result, has said that the sentence sets a “really scary example” – and she believes ‘it’s going to act as a deterrent for other victims of similar crimes to come forward.’
Deblaquiere has since left ADFA, freely and by his own choice.
McDonald has recently served a suspension from the academy for allegedly founding the defence group ‘Love of my Life’ – which required members to perform homosexual sex acts on each other.
McDonald has just been allowed to return to study. Kate, on the other hand, is about to be discharged from the military, on psychological and medical grounds.
“We have a convicted criminal now being sponsored through taxpayers’ money to continue his education when the victim is being kicked out,” Kate said in her interview with ABC. “How is that fair?”
Even after the Skype sex scandal broke, Kate said that she wanted to continue to pursue a career in the military. But at every turn she encountered setbacks, and has revealed that she was harassed at various ADF bases around the country. ‘I suffered victimisation and bastardisation, it seemed, from every angle in my life when it came to the Defence Force…it follows you everywhere you go,” she said.
Kate told the ABC “I couldn’t leave my room except to go to work because the boys in the room across from me thought it was fun to terrorise me and call me the Skype slut continually every time I left my room.”
Kate wants to see real change in the ADF culture. (Good luck)
Kate has also accused the Defence Force of leaking information to discredit her in the media – and says she wants to take legal action.
In her interview she revealed that, “there was an incident where my medical records [were] obtained without the correct permission … ”
“There was a news story about sensitive personal information that only could come from my medical documents, including the fact that I was on the contraceptive pill at the time.”
Defence has denied leaking Kate’s medical records. (Crap!)
Kate says that her intention to pursue further legal action is partly “about getting me the resources that I need to start my life again” – but also because she wants to see a real change to the culture within the ADF.
In her interview, Kate explained that ‘it’s definitely at a great personal cost that I came forward with the issues, but I don’t regret coming forward from it. First and foremost, it’s about bringing about cultural change within the Defence Force.’ She believes that her case, and other similar cases, have highlighted a very real need for change for women within the defence force.
“When are we going to see change?’ Kate asked. ‘When are we going to see these people made answer for their actions? When are we going to see victims better protected and supported?”
Get a top lawyer (not a good one) to get off scott free…
‘Skype scandal cadets escape jail time’
23rd October 2023, by Max Blenkin, The Australian newspaper, https://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/latest-news/skype-scandal-cadets-escape-jail-time/news-story/7b6bb83ae89d6443a9b093fd4065bcb2
A Supreme Court judge admits he gave “thorough and anxious” thought to jailing the two men at the centre of the Skype sex sandal at the Australian Defence Force Academy.
Instead, Acting Justice John Nield imposed 12-month good behaviour bonds on Daniel McDonald and Dylan Deblaquiere, both 21. Justice Nield described as perverse and vulgar the men’s actions in which McDonald, at Deblaquiere’s suggestion, filmed consensual sex with a female cadet on a webcam and streamed it by Skype to fellow cadets in a nearby room in March 2011.
Justice Nield, in sentencing the pair in the ACT Supreme Court on Wednesday, was scathing of their behaviour.
“The offenders abused and degraded the complainant for their own perverse satisfaction,” he said, noting neither had expressed regret or remorse.
McDonald told outrageous and blatant lies about how the victim – referred to as “Kate” – consented to the broadcast.
“He acted deliberately and intentionally to abuse and degrade her,” he said.
Justice Nield said while the broadcast was “tasteless and vulgar” it was seen by a limited audience.
He said both men had good prospects of rehabilitation, while any deterrent effect of a jail sentence already had been achieved through extensive media coverage.
Outside the court, Kate, now married, said the sentencing ended two-and-a-half years of turmoil.
“I now look forward to a new, positive chapter in my life,” she told reporters.
McDonald and Deblaquiere, through their lawyer Francis Cahill, said they were satisfied with the outcome.
“They are both relieved that the events of the last two-and-a-half years have culminated today. They can now get on with their lives,” he said.
McDonald was convicted of committing an act of indecency, an offence which carries a maximum seven-year jail term.
Both men also were convicted of using a telecommunications carriage service in an offensive manner, which carries a maximum three-year jail term.
Deblaquiere is no longer a cadet at the academy, while McDonald will see what Defence decides about his future.
During the trial, McDonald was wrongly implicated in another sex scandal involving a group of footballers at the academy.
Defence said it was aware an ADFA cadet had been sentenced over the Skype incident.
“Administrative action has been initiated. While this action is under way, Defence will not publicly discuss deliberations concerning an individual’s service in the Australian Defence Force,” it said.
These two institutions are all class, not! As ex-Duntroon, one thinks of Kate.
The lyrics to this song are so apt to the ADFA/RMC abuse culture ongoing behind closed doors. Read the lyrics, and consider what goes on in barracks at night behind closed doors at ADFA and RMC..from this author’s direct experience from RMC… It’s so far from civilian decent reality, rather a sick ongoing chronic cult of abuse of Australian Defence Force (ADF) incompetent leadership being perpetuated.
Ask Julian Knight.
‘Over the Hills and Far Away’ – Lyrics:
Is it reflective of the tale of military officer training? Military officer graduation to what end, what leadership?
Further Reading and References:
‘ADFA cadet Daniel McDonald sacked over Skype sex scandal’
9th November 2013, ABC, https://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-09/adfa-cadet-sacked-over-skype-sex-scandal/5080834
‘Submissions begin in sex scandal review’
A review of the treatment of women at the Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA), prompted by the Skype sex scandal, will start taking submissions tomorrow.
27th June 2011, by Andrea Hayward, AAP, https://www.couriermail.com.au/ipad/submissions-begin-in-sex-scandal-review/news-story/85ea88ce2b993ec29d798b3463174a5c
‘Skype cadet linked to second scandal’
14 October 2013, SBS, https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/skype-cadet-linked-to-second-scandal/wr4r3c6sh
‘ADFA Skype Sex Cadet Faces Another Lewd Scandal Dubbed as “Love of My Life” ‘
14 Oct 2013, by Athena Yenko, https://www.ibtimes.com.au/adfa-skype-sex-cadet-faces-another-lewd-scandal-dubbed-love-my-life-1319958
