I WAS 12 I TOLD THE TRUTH POLICE SHUT ME DOWN
This version has been rewritten from the original article to centre Amy’s voice and lived experience.
⚠️ CONTENT WARNING
This article contains references to child abuse, coercive control, domestic violence, and institutional neglect. Support services are listed at the end.
SUPPORT SERVICES
If this article raises issues for you or someone you know, please reach out:
1800RESPECT – 1800 737 732
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The original article can be found here
YOU ARE NOT ALONE!!!
My name is Amy Elizabeth Daphne Jerrick, though many know me as Amy McGill from my earlier years.
In 2004, when I was 12 YEARS OLD, I went to The Rock — a small town about 35 kilometers from Wagga Wagga. I was visiting an ADULT RELATIVE.
What should have been a NORMAL weekend turned into something I would carry with me FOREVER. Over that weekend, I was SUBJECTED to EXPERIENCES that no Child should ever ENDURE. When I returned home, my mother took me to the (WAGGA WAGGA POLICE STATION) for support. A DCJ worker was with us.
The officer who took my statement was then DETECTIVE KAREN WEBB.
Yes, that KAREN WEBB — now the COMMISSIONER OF NSW POLICE.
I was told that there wasn’t Enough Evidence to proceed with my case unless I TESTIFIED in court. But I was JUST A CHILD. I was 12 YEARS OLD. I didn’t have the COURAGE, THE STRENGTH, or the UNDERSTANDING of what was HAPPENING TO ME. I couldn’t face the idea of having to speak in front of strangers, of reliving it all for a courtroom.
So I DECLINED.
THE CASE WAS CLOSED.
But my TRAUMA WAS NEVER CLOSED.
They didn’t just close a FILE. THEY CLOSED MY LIFE.
There was no FOLLOW-UP. NO ONE asked me how I was doing. NO SUPPORT, NO PROTECTION.
By 15, I’d ENTERED a RELATIONSHIP with a MAN MORE THAN A DECADE OLDER. Looking back, it wasn’t COINCIDENCE. It was CONDITIONING.
The FEAR. The CONTROL. The MANIPULATION. It all ECHOED what I’d ALREADY lived THROUGH. WHAT I’D BEEN TAUGHT TO TOLERATE.
At 16, I MISCARRIED a baby at 16 WEEKS. Later, I gave birth to two DAUGHTERS. THEY'RE NOW 14 AND 12.
“I call him my angel son. He was part of my story, even if he never got to take a breath. That grief changed me. It made me want to protect what matters.”
SEPTEMBER 2015: THE LONGEST THREE WEEKS OF MY LIFE
My EX BROKE into my HOME in WAGGA WAGGA. HE CAME TO HARM ME — AND HE DID. A 000 CALL WAS MADE. By the time POLICE ARRIVED, HE HAD FLED to his SISTER’S HOUSE TWO DOORS DOWN.
Later, He Took Our Two Children And HID THEM AT ANOTHER SISTER’S HOME IN THE NEXT SUBURB.
Police told me THEY’D ARRESTED HIM. I ASKED for an OFFICER to ESCORT ME TO SAFELY COLLECT MY CHILDREN.
THEY SAID NO. THEY TOLD ME I HAD NO LEGAL right to RETRIEVE THEM — even though I already had full custody due to previous domestic violence.
I waited NEARLY A WEEK to get a LAWYER. When I finally saw one, I was told what police should have told me: I Did Have The Right. ESPECIALLY WHILE THEIR FATHER WAS IN CUSTODY. ESPECIALLY IF I FELT UNSAFE.
I applied for a recovery order. I was granted it immediately. In court, the judge rang my ex directly and asked him:
“What’s your intention with this behaviour?”
He replied:
“I don’t give a fuck. I can do what I want.”
The judge granted me full custody with no contact.
BUT POLICE STILL COULDN’T FIND MY CHILDREN!!
It took THREE WEEKS — THE LONGEST OF MY LIFE.
Eventually, they were found in Leeton NSW. I raced there with my family.
THEY IGNORED ME !!!
Police went to his sister’s house. She told them he wasn’t there. I told them to check the cul-de-sac behind her house — she had a back gate.
Not long after, I got the call: They found him in that park — with my kids, their car seats, and their bags packed.
He was minutes from being driven across the Victorian border. If I hadn’t pushed — if I hadn’t known — they would’ve vanished.
When I finally brought my children home, they were unwell. Constipated. Drowsy.
They’d been fed NOTHING BUT MCDONALD’S. THEY’D BEEN GIVEN PANADOL AND NUROFEN CONSTANTLY TO KEEP THEM QUIET.
And then they said something I’ll never forget:
‘‘Mommy mommy, We saw needles in Daddy’s arm.”
I reported everything to police. Every detail.
They told me: “No findings.”
I GAVE BIRTH TO MY SON.
In 2021 I Gave Birth to my Son This time, in a safe and loving relationship
“I swore he’d never inherit my silence. I needed him to know that what happened to me was never okay. That we all have voices — and we never let silence protect the wrong people.”
IN 2022,
I reached out to the NSW POLICE, hoping they would finally reopen the case from when I was just twelve years old. Their response was a firm refusal. They stated the file had been closed long ago, By then DETECTIVE Now COMMISSIONER KAREN WEBB stamped with the dismissive words: "NO EVIDENCE."
To add insult to injury, I was told I would need to “SUBPOENA MY OWN RECORDS.”
It's a Bitter Pill to swallow, NEEDING A LEGAL ORDER to access the details of my OWN TRAUMA. It makes me wonder what exactly they are trying to shield, and it CERTAINLY ISN'T ME.
TO THIS DAY, I've never laid eyes on that file. It remains sealed, locked away. I'm currently waiting on old family photographs, fragile memories that might corroborate another incident I endured. My grandmother, bless her heart, is helping me search for them.
After they CLOSED my file all those years ago, I VANISHED in a way. Not physically, but EMOTIONALLY. The system simply forgot I existed. But I am not just a statistic. At twelve, FEAR SILENCED ME. Now, at thirty-four, I AM FINALLY READY TO BE HEARD.
My story, sadly, isn't unique. As reported in Underground Media Network's article "What NSW Police Didn’t Want You to Hear" other survivors and even whistleblowers within the NSW Police have shared similar experiences of having their REPORTS IGNORED, CASES DOWNGRADED, their CREDIBILITY QUESTIONED, and the PROTECTION OF OFFICERS PRIORITISED. THIS SILENCE ISN'T ACCIDENTAL; IT SEEMS TO BE HOW THINGS OPERATE.
WHAT I DESERVE IS SIMPLE:
Access to my file, a trauma-informed and independent review of my case, transparency about who sealed those records in the first place
a formal acknowledgment of the institutional failures that let me down, and genuine reform
FOR SO LONG, THEY MADE ME FEEL LIKE I DIDN'T MATTER, AND SHAMEFULLY, I STARTED TO BELIEVE THEM. BUT NOT ANYMORE.
NSW POLICE RESPONSE
NSW Police were contacted for comment. No response was received before publication. This article will be updated if one is provided.
FINAL NOTE
I, Amy Elizabeth Daphne Jerrick, have given full, informed consent for the publication of my name, former legal name, and personal history. The identity of the alleged perpetrator has been withheld in accordance with legal and ethical standards.
This article complies with the MEAA Journalist Code of Ethics and trauma-informed reporting principles. I retain the right to revise or withdraw my consent at any time.
UNDERGROUND MEDIA NETWORK IS SURVIVOR-LED AND UNAPOLOGETIC.
WE DON’T CENSOR.
WE DON’T SANITISE TRUTH TO PROTECT POWER..
WE TELL IT RAW — AND WE’RE NOT AFRAID.
TO THE SURVIVORS WHO NEVER GAVE UP
WE HEAR YOU. WE BELIEVE YOU. WE WILL NOT STOP.
If my story moved you, SHARE IT. AMPLIFY IT.
DON’T LET MY VOICE BE BURIED AGAIN.
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Title: I Was 12. I Told the Truth. Police Shut Me Down
Survivor Contributor: Amy Elizabeth Daphne Jerrick (formerly McGill)
First Published: 23 April 2025
Title: She was 12 She Told the truth Poilce shut her down
Platform: undergroundmedianetwork.substack.com
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