Therein lies the problem. The police have reported they are yet to receive a formal complaint. Despite my personal beliefs, which say Hughes is as gulity as sin, the legalities of the matter have been ignored. If everyone, or a great majority have the same inclination, a fair trial cannot be undertaken. The making public of claims has destroyed the possibility. The judiciary would be biased from the beginning and unable to make impartial decisions.
The claims of other Hey Dad actors seem to clearly back up Monahan's story. Another of Monahan's claims is that she wanted other victims to gain the confidence to come forward. This appears to have happened. A string of other claimants have jumped up. Whether formal complaints had been made previously is unknown to me.
Alas, another problem has come about from this. Newspapers etc have been rushing to interview the other claimants. This could damage their individual cases. The same pattern could be repeated.
As a tactical move, it is possible Monahan was advised she would have little chance of a conviction - pursuing the matter directly. In taking the action she did, the hope may have been to gather a phalanx of accusers, making life impossible for Hughes. That is all well and good if they too did not put themselves up for media interviews. It seems most have, including their names in press reports.
I can't see any possible legal ramifications for Robert Hughes. I believe he will get off scot free in this instance. The damage done will be purely to his reputation. I am unaware of any acting work that he has done recently. He also resides in Singapore. From his point of view, as long as he does not come back to Australia, the damage is limited.
This allows a flimsy segue into the Lara Bingle imbroglio. Bingle was photographed in the shower, nude, by her former shag, Brendan Fevola. This appears without doubt. The photo was subsequently distributed far and wide. Fevola claims he lost his (camera) phone.
The problem with the Bingle/Fevola affair is precisely the same as with the Hey Dad pitfall. Bingle gave an interview to a 'leading' women's magazine, Woman's Day. For a reported $200k! She lost most or all credibility immediately. The same magazine had published the photo, publicly, for the first time but a week before. Her agent, Max Markson, pumped out some pre-rehearsed lines, which went down like a lead float. The police were also sidestepped - a huge motivation appears to be sheer profiteering by Bingle & Markson.
Sarah Monahan has been receiving a large amount of hate mail, in the same vain as Lara Bingle. The method of public dissemination needs to be seriously questioned. As a tactic for direct action, it is one of the poorest moves available. This is entirely seperate from the actual facts.
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Have thought a bit more on the issue. My only conclusion is that in both cases, it was decided the legal avenue was a dead-end. The tactic decided on was public shame & humiliation in place of legal recourse. It severely undermines the message. It makes it too hard to really care about from a distance, as harsh as that may sound.
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