Shortcut: I Was Sexually Assaulted By A Stranger When I Was 7 Re-Issue

March 5, 2026·19 min·1 clip

Alicia recalls blocking out the assault details until reading her statement 27 years later.

This episode of Australian True Crime is a re-issued conversation where host Michelle Lorry interviews Alicia, a survivor of a childhood sexual assault. Alicia recounts her 1989 abduction at age seven and the subsequent 26-year journey to see her offender convicted. Alicia describes walking home from school in 1989 when a man, later identified as Sterling Bauer, approached her near a milk bar by claiming to work for the council and asking about her brother. He led her to a pine plantation near a local "haunted house," where the assault occurred after he threatened to kill her if she told anyone. She ran home screaming, and her mother immediately contacted police, leading to an evidence collection that included pine needles from her clothing. The original police investigation included a sketch, a Crime Stoppers reenactment, and visits to Target to identify clothing, but the case eventually went cold. In 2014, Alicia proactively contacted police again, facing initial discouragement when DNA tests on old evidence reportedly failed. Detective Lee Prados from the Cold Case Unit later visited her in 2015 to announce a DNA match from evidence stored in a freezer, linking the crime to Bauer, who was already in the system for another child sexual assault. The offender lived in a block of units on the corner where he abducted Alicia, explaining how he had observed her daily routine. Alicia reveals she largely blocked out the specific details of the assault, only learning the full extent by reading her original police statement 27 years later. She shares the poignant memory of telling her mother "Gin Middy doesn't live here anymore" the night of the attack, symbolizing her lost innocence. The legal process involved a guilty plea to a charge of rape, resulting in a six-year sentence with a four-year non-parole period, which Alicia found emotionally complex as it was a lesser charge than penetration of a child under ten. She emphasizes that victims have no reason for shame, stating the offender is the one who should be ashamed, not her. The episode concludes with Alicia hoping her story gives others the confidence to disclose their own assaults and seek help. The tone is intimate, raw, and narrative-driven, focusing on Alicia's detailed recollection and emotional perspective. The style is a respectful, direct interview that prioritizes the survivor's voice and experience. Listeners interested in profound survivor stories and the long-term impacts of cold-case investigations would find this episode compelling. Those sensitive to detailed descriptions of child sexual assault may find the content too distressing.

As heard by us

A direct survivor account of a childhood attack, a long-cold case, and the cost of speaking anyway.

Alicia's story begins in the most ordinary place: a seven-year-old walking home from school, cutting through familiar streets, then being taken and sexually assaulted by a stranger. What follows is blunt and hard to hear.

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