Hey Dad! man denies abuse as victims come forward

The man at the centre of the Hey Dad! abuse allegations has been named by A Current Affair.

The claims follow allegations made by former child star Sarah Monahan. The story has been a dominant one in television and print media all week, detailing what went on during the 7 year run of the 1980s sitcom.

A Current Affair confronted the man overseas who said the matter was in the hands of defamation lawyers and made no comment.

But another victim, whose family was a friend of the man in question, came forward with claims that the same man had interfered with her when she was 15.

“He came in and tried to touch the back of my neck, and rub his hands down the back of my dressing gown, and I told him to stop and asked him to leave and he left,” she said.

Former cast member Ben Oxenbould, who played Ben Hubner, did not name the man in an interview with Tracy Grimshaw. He said he knew about the abuse after witnessing an incident backstage with another child actress under the age of 10.

“I confronted him with her, and he had her up on a chair, he had his hands on her chest and his face very, very close to her neck and ear. I didn’t know if he was making any contact with his tongue or lips at the time, however it was enough for me to go into panic and instinct mode.”

He said he grabbed her straight away and removed her, hoping she hadn’t understood what had happened.

Oxenbould says he confronted the man about the incident.

“I said to him he needed to come out and confront this.”

He said everything he had heard was proven true after witnessing the incident.

“It was absolutely 100% confirmed for me at that time.”

Oxenbould says he believes other cast members knew what was going on but was told by producer Garry Reilly not to speak up about what he had seen.

“Because of the litigious nature of this, it was very easy for the people in control, supposedly in control to say, ‘You better be very careful about what you say.’ And I think that’s what held a lot of people back,” he said.

“I went to him and told him what I knew. I was essentially, not just shot down in flames, but intimidated into not saying anything. There was something he said to me, along with one of the other high ranking members of the executive party, that has stuck with me for 17 years and this was the introduction for me into the industry.

“And then he said to me ‘You consider this a lesson in professionalism.’ And I’m underplaying it when I say that.”

Oxenbould said he didn’t see any measures put in place to protect Monahan. He was damning in his criticism of Reilly’s interview on ACA last week.

“Nothing was done. And now 17 years later to have the guile to come on national television and say he knew nothing about it, I don’t believe it. And I’m angry about it,” he said.

ACA said multiple victims had signed statements.

NSW Police have confirmed they are looking into the case and inviting others to come forward to make statements.

So far no charges have been laid.