*** Reader discretion is advised *** A former Wangaratta businessman has been jailed for predatory behaviour against a boy under 16 while working as an operator of a popular Glenrowan business. Robert William Hempel, 89, appeared at Wangaratta County Court on Wednesday pleading guilty to seven charges of child abuse of a boy under 16. He received a three year sentence, with six months to be served in jail, and two years and six months suspended. The court heard Hempel's offending took place between 2007 to 2012, when the boy was aged 11 to 15 and he was 70 to 75. The boy became acquainted with Hempel when he was about 10 or 11 and took a keen interest in Hempel’s Glenrowan Tourism Centre. The boy viewed Hempel as a father figure and he held a position of trust with the boy’s mother. When the boy was 11, he slept overnight at Hempel’s residence at the tourism centre for the first time, and Hempel masturbated in front of the boy, telling him to do the same as "that’s just what men do”. In another incident when the accused was 70-71 years-old he got a tight-fitting dress from his wardrobe in his bedroom and told the boy to put it on. After the boy changed into the dress, Hempel duct taped the boy’s mouth, tied his legs together with an old stocking and laid him on his bed, ‘flicking’ the boy’s penis out of the dress. He told the boy he wanted to “f*** him” and how “beautiful” he was, prior to pleasuring himself. Other incidents which occurred in Glenrowan involved placing women’s heels on the boy and using restraints including duct tape, glad wrap and a calico cloth or cord. The court heard two incidents also occurred when Hempel took the boy away and abused him in a hotel room shower and in a car. After the seventh and last incident of abuse which occurred between 2010 and 2012, the court heard Hempel apologised to the victim on numerous occasions. They would remain associated in the years following and entered a financial dispute. The victim first disclosed to his psychologist about the abuse in 2022, after he found two letters signed by Hempel, which he read as an apology to the victim and detailed graphic details of sexual abuse. The court heard the victim became distressed over a financial dispute with Hempel and shared details of Hempel's abuse with his mother and partner. The matter was reported with police, and Hempel was interviewed at Wodonga Police Station, denying any sexual abuse. He focused strongly on the financial dispute between the pair and while he admitted to writing the letter found by the victim, he said it was written because he hated the victim and wanted to blackmail him. The victim read a statement to the court detailing the profound and lasting impact of the abuse he endured over several years. “What happened to me as a child changed the course of my life,” he said. He said he came from a difficult upbringing and lost his abusive father at a young age to suicide. “I was a child looking for support, stability and protection… the offender saw that vulnerability and exploited it,” he said. The victim said the predatory, manipulative and controlling abuse placed a lifetime of burden and shame upon him. “The years I lived with the fear of this person’s behaviour, the fear of the consequences if I ever spoke up has stayed with me my whole life,” he said. “I did not want my family to know because I knew, even then, how painful it would be for them." Hempel was committed to stand trial on 13 charges in September 2023, and the case experienced numerous delays. A trial commenced in August 2024, but it was suspended after the accused suffered a heart attack during the trial. A majority of witnesses had already given pre-recorded evidence in preparation for a fresh trial. The victim said the long court process had also taken a toll on him and to have been accused of lying for personal gain by Hempel throughout cross-examination was damaging. “Time has not erased the lifetime of impact of this offending,” he said. “The shame of what happened was not mine, I was a child, the responsibility lies with the offender.” The victim’s mother and sister, also present in court, gave private victim impact statements which Judge Anne Hassan said detailed their devastation upon finding out about the abuse. Defence counsel Chris Oldham said Hempel was a talented footballer in his time, a menswear salesman within the North East and operated Glenrowan Tourism Centre until his retirement. Mr Oldham said his client, who turns 90 this year, has multiple medical conditions including leukemia and requires a walking frame to get around. Judge Hassan sentenced Hempel to serve six months in jail, acknowledging it was possible he could die in custody due to his advanced age. “You should’ve cared for him and protected him but instead you subjected him to years of sexual abuse,” she said. Judge Hassan said Hempel “clearly” had a fetish for women’s clothes and restraints and there had been no evidence or insight into any remorse shown by Hempel. “The shame is not yours [the victim], the shame is entirely Robert Hempel’s,” she said. Hempel was remanded into police custody. If you or someone you know needs support, help is available: - 1800RESPECT: 1800 737 732 - Kids Helpline: 1800 55 1800 - Sexual Assault Crisis Line: 1800 806 292 - Lifeline: 13 11 14
