Speaking with Sofie Formica on the 4BC Afternoons show, Sarah explained what decision she hopes is handed down next week.
TV Blackbox podcaster and actor, Sarah Monahan, spoke with 4BC Afternoons host Sofie Formica in an exclusive interview, detailing her thoughts immediately following the parole hearing of disgraced Hey Dad! star and convicted paedophile, Robert Hughes.
Hughes, 73, was convicted in 2014 of several sexual and indecent assault acts on girls in the 1980s and 1990s.
He will find out next week if he will be granted parole after becoming eligible back in 2020. Previous parole requests have already been denied twice.
Performing alongside Hughes for many years on Hey Dad!, Monahan was one of the most high-profile figures in the court case and was one of his victims.
Attending the hearing on Friday, she explained why it was so important for her to be apart of the court proceedings.
“I’m always the public face of it, so I always feel like it’s important to stay the public face, and just to keep it going.
“We can’t change who it was unless, you know, we speak publicly.
“I always feel like we need to advocate for victims and make changes.”
Formica asked Monahan what it was like seeing Hughes in court, who only appeared via video link.
She said:
“I was kind of apprehensive about seeing him, and then as soon as I saw him, like literally the second that they opened the camera… [Other victims attending] and I just had this sigh of relief because he is no longer scary, he is just a frail old man.
“It took all of his power away, and I wish all of the girls could have been there today to see that, to understand that he is no longer that person that used to frighten them.”
Monahan explained the verdict she hopes to see in Hughes’ parole decision next week.
“It’s a mixed bag.
“Of course we want him to do his time, but at the same time, every year we go through this and with the other girls, every year this comes up and they’re just starting to get on with life and then they get dragged back in with this.
“On the one hand I’d like to see him go back to England, but then we wanna make sure that kids in England are safe.”
Hughes remains a denier of his crimes, still unable to take responsibility for them.
“He’s just always been arrogant. I think he just always thought he was above the law and he’s just never changed. And apparently jail hasn’t changed that.
“That’s the only thing I fear, is that he’ll go over [to England] and he’ll just live in his own little fantasy land and pretend that he’s the victim in all of this.”
Ahead of the parole hearing, Monahan was interviewed on A Current Affair in an episode that aired on Thursday night.
She explained how some of Hughes’ abuse happened while taping Hey Dad!, in front of a live studio audience.
As the face of the child abuse case against him for nearly 12 years, Monahan recounted some of the horrifying ordeals she had to go through on set.
You can listen to Sofie Formica’s full interview with Sarah Monahan below.
