Zion and Aldari

‘This is like a fire. If you are not going to stop the fire when it begins, it is just growing bigger.’

Zion’s parents adopted him as a small child about 40 years ago. The family migrated to Australia about five years later.

Zion has cognitive disability and is autistic, however he was only formally diagnosed with autism as an adult. Zion attended a mainstream school. As he was entering his teens his mother, Aldari, ‘recognised that something is going wrong’.

One day she received a call from the business where Zion used to ‘help out’ after school. Zion had told the manager he had been sexually abused. Aldari was ‘stunned’, and immediately took Zion to the police station to make a report.

Aldari told the Royal Commission her English at that time was ‘sub-zero’.

‘I couldn't communicate with all those people at the police station, with everyone … I don't think we used interpreter because my ex-husband was taking that part over.’

The police questioned Zion and other children who had been to Zion’s home. They determined he had ‘made it up’, but then gifted him a mountain bike. Aldari finds it hard to make sense of this.

‘They said to me that your son is liar and the story is not true … but they presented with the mountain bike. So I thought, oh, you're not presenting someone with a present who is actually telling the lies.’

Aldari feels that whether her son was telling the truth or not, the police should have done more.

‘They didn’t connect my son to seek out psychological help or they didn't give us any – any hint that look, you need to take your son, or we are going to refer your son … because this can grow up into the issue.’

For a while ‘life went on’. Then, Aldari noticed ‘warning signs’, such as Zion having an unusual interest in babies and nappy changing. Then in his late teens, he began watching children at a kindergarten near the family home. Teachers at the kindy reported him to the police, who informed Aldari.

Aldari sent Zion to see psychologists. She told them everything she knew, but said ‘still nobody reached any positive outcome regarding to prevent all the issues which has further developed’.

Meanwhile, Aldari’s married life was breaking down. She had a baby daughter and felt it was not safe for the baby to be in the same house as Zion. So she and her daughter moved out, leaving Zion to live with his father.

‘So I had no family here. I felt lonely. I felt totally lost … I love him as my son, but I love my daughter as my daughter, so the internal war inside me made my mental health actually very bad outcome.’

About five years ago a serious incident occurred. Zion was arrested, placed on an 18-month-long corrections order and listed on the sex offenders register.

Aldari said that following his conviction, nobody provided Zion with any referrals for support. Aldari tried to find help herself, contacting around 40 professionals. ‘Nobody wanted to take him on,’ Aldari said. ‘And I was stuck.’

Aldari’s ex-husband went overseas. ‘So now I am looking after – I have become, you know, a sort of carer,’ Aldari said. She is effectively Zion’s minder, checking where and when he is at all times. ‘[It] is a constant monitoring. It is never-ending and it's very constant.’

Aldari sought help from a service provider specialising in support for people with autism. But Aldari says they provide little support to adults, or ‘high functioning’ people. ‘This is a system issue,’ she said.

Aldari believes that Zion’s sexual offending is linked to his disability. She also believes the police were negligent in not taking Zion more seriously or referring him for appropriate support when he was a teenager.

‘I reported. I connected. I put him into a professional's hands, so and eventually nobody, nobody cared. Nobody take that issue seriously until he ended up in front of the Magistrate.’