Ten years ago Therese Butler sat outside a room and did nothing, while a virtual stranger Therese had met online was inside, raping her 16-year-old daughter – an encounter she had organised.
In an exclusive interview with A Current Affair host Tracy Grimshaw, the now 26-year-old Peta Butler recalled the hellish experience which can only be described as ” the ultimate betrayal,” her mother arranged her own daughter’s rape.
After ten years of keeping quiet about the incident, Peta now has her a daughter of her own which compelled her to finally seek justice against her mother for making her go through the unthinkable.
In a clip of the exclusive interview, reporter Tracy Grimshaw is visibly emotional, voice laced with anger, when she says to the young woman, “She served you up to him, and then she wanted you to save yourself.”
“I’ve got a mum sat outside, knowing that their daughter is being raped by her potential boyfriend,” Peta replied, the hurt still ringing clear in her voice.
Peta opening up on ACA.
Earlier this year, Peta managed to get her mother to confess on to her actions over the phone, a call which she recorded and gave to the police.
“I told him no, I was crying. I was telling him no, I was crying,” Peta said to her mother on the phone.
Her mother’s replies are enough to make anyone’s blood run cold.
“He promised he wasn’t going to touch you,” the recording of her mother’s voice was played during the interview.
“I wanted you to just run out, I wanted to kick the door. I was crying,” her mother continued.
“I wouldn’t have taken you down there unless you were 16.”
Therese has been sentenced to four years in prison for procuring a child for carnal knowledge.
Footage of the call as it was played.
How does this happen?
How does a mother commit such an unthinkable act?
Peta explains that after her parents divorced her mother began online dating and started talking to a man called “Thommo”, speaking about him as if they were “best friends.”
“The day of the rape, she admitted that that was the second time she had ever met him after two years,” Peta explained.
It apparently took two years to groom Therese to agree to let Thommo spend a night with a “younger version” of herself, her 16-year-old daughter.
After being ploughed alcoholic drinks, Peta was told to go to a hotel room and the next time the door opened it was Thommo who entered, not her mother.
A police sketch of Peter “Thommo” Thompson.
“I kind of stood up to leave the room because I thought he was going to the bathroom, but that’s when he stopped me,” Peta said.
He then raped the teenager without saying a word.
“I couldn’t speak, I couldn’t – like, my voicebox, I couldn’t talk, I couldn’t scream out to my mum, I couldn’t do anything,” She said.
“I felt his face stubble against my face. I still remember feeling that and I still remember the smell of him.”
When it was over, Peta was comforted by her mother who told her it was all going to be okay.
Her mother had sat outside the room the entire time, smoking cigarettes.
Police are now on the hunt for Peter “Thommo” Thompson who they believe may have also raped other girls.
He is said to be in his mid to late 40s.
If you have any information please contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
