Inmates have launched a class action lawsuit against the state of New South Wales over sickening abuse by a dishonest prison boss at Australia’s largest women’s prison.
Seven female prisoners raped, assaulted and abused by Wayne Astill during his reign of terror at the Dillwynia Women’s Correctional Centre in Sydney’s western suburbs are suing in a civil class action lawsuit.
Astill is now in prison, serving 23 years behind bars for his sexual crimes against vulnerable women, which occurred until his arrest in 2019.
Several of the details in a statement of claim are so graphic that they cannot be detailed in printed form.
The female victims claim they were “intentionally assaulted, beaten and unlawfully deprived of their liberty by Astill while they were inmates at Dillwynia.”
Sexual beast Wayne Astill forced an inmate onto a table and raped her, later threatening her if she revealed his actions to anyone.
One inmate said the abuse she suffered at the hands of Wayne Astill began shortly after her promotion to a senior position at Dillwyna (above), Australia’s largest women’s prison.
Above are female inmates at Silverwater Prison, which is not the prison where Wayne Astill raped and assaulted female inmates for several years.
Astill was appointed acting prison governor at Dillwynia in September 2016. The main whistleblower claims the abuse began shortly after he took over.
In late 2016, Astill asked her to perform a sexual act on him in exchange for information about the well-being of a loved one or dependent.
He told her that he knew police and investigators who could get the details.
A few weeks after she refused, he told her the price for information had “gone up” and began attacking her, telling her he was now demanding an even more intimate sexual act.
Astill reached under the plaintiff’s shirt and touched her breasts, and attempted to put his hand inside her pants and then grabbed her private parts on the outside of her prison uniform.
Shortly after this, Astill called her into his office under the pretext of getting her to make a statement about a physical altercation with another inmate, saying he would protect her.
After telling other prison staff members that he would be held accountable for the inmate’s absence during lunch or count, he assaulted her in the office.
Astill, a former police officer, used the threat of his contacts in the New South Wales Police to intimidate female prisoners into believing he could prevent their release on parole.
Astill, now behind bars for his crimes, abused his power to rape vulnerable female inmates and then enforce their silence through threats of consequences.
The inmates have launched a civil class action lawsuit against the state of New South Wales over abuse that the lawsuit alleges was carried out with the knowledge of other prison staff.
Astill pushed her onto a table and raped her, then told her “to make sure she looked normal and not to tell anyone about the assault.”
In early 2017, he attacked her again, after luring her into a room known as the “High Needs Office,” saying she was needed for an inter-prison phone call.
Astill then told the plaintiff inmate to “look normal, not tell anyone about the abuse and that he could make her life miserable.”
In 2018, Astill abused her again after telling her that it would only take one bad case note for her to be denied parole and that no one would believe her if she reported the assault.
Astill had instilled fear in the prisoner with the additional threat that he was a former police officer with contacts in the New South Wales Police.
The statement of claim in the class action, which will be filed with Judge Peter Garling for pre-trial directions on July 4, includes claims that the woman was imprisoned by Astill without lawful authority and that he had exercised an abuse of power.
Damages are requested for the “loss of dignity, disgrace, humiliation, interference with bodily integrity and deprivation of liberty” of the inmates at the hands of a “predatory” Astill.
Additionally, the lawsuit says Astill’s actions occurred when Justice Department officials knew Astill was abusing his position toward female inmates and committing violations…and unlawful imprisonment of female inmates and took no steps to prevent it.
Astill, 67, was jailed in March 2023 after a jury found him guilty of 34 charges, including aggravated sexual assault and indecent assault.
He will serve a minimum of 15 years and four months behind bars, allowing him to be eligible for parole for the first time in December 2037, when he will turn 80.
A special commission of inquiry into the Astill crimes concluded in February.
During the investigation, a former inmate assaulted by Astill testified that she had been “afraid of repercussions” and threats that prevented her from speaking out against him.
She said he once told her: ‘You know I’m in high office, I’ll send you to Wello (Wellington Jail) and they’ll stamp on your head.’