Behind Closed Doors

Four children by her father.

Thirty years of horrific sexual abuse.

In March 2009, Joseph Fritzl was sentenced to life in jail for the systematic imprisonment, torture and rape of his daughter Elisabeth over 24 years, fathering seven children. The case shocked the world.

But just a month before, the story of Australia’s own house of horrors was emerging in a Victorian country town.

Under a blanket of suppression orders, a man in his late sixties was quietly arrested, charged – and later convicted – for the systematic rape, abuse and imprisonment of his only daughter, ‘Katherine’, which spanned decades. He fathered four of her children.

This shocking story had been buried under a complex legal web and Katherine's insistence on silence so that she could rebuild her shattered life and protect her children. In this new edition, Katherine details her experiences at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, where she gave evidence about how guardians of wards of the state failed to protect her from further abuse.

In Behind Closed Doors, and written with Sue Smethurst, Katherine breaks her silence and tells the story of how she survived – and how such degrading abuse went unnoticed for so long.

Now with a new chapter, detailing the evidence Katherine gave at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

About the Author

Sue Smethurst is a bestselling author and journalist. She co-authored the bestselling series of books, The Clothesline Diet, The Clothesline Diet Club, Why Can’t I Lose Weight? and The Clothesline Diet USA. She is currently a Senior Writer for The Australian Women's Weekly magazine. Sue is passionate about empowering women and giving them the confidence and knowledge to make positive change to their lives.