Australian actress Maggie Kirkpatrick has opened up about her traumatising experience with the court system after she was wrongfully accused of the sexual assault of a teenage fan.
Maggie – famous for her role as Joan “The Freak” Ferguson on Prisoner – spoke to A Current Affair about her experience.
“To be confronted with such a phone call, and such an accusation,” she said of the moment when she learned she was facing allegations of sexual assault on New Year’s Eve in 2013.
WATCH: Maggie Kirkpatrick reveals inside story of her devastating legal fight
“Well, the bottom just fell out of my world,” Maggie said, explaining that she had met the then-14-year-old girl in 1985 on a visit to a psychiatric facility.
The Prisoner star invited the teen to her home for a meal, a fact which Maggie said “would never be allowed now” for a person of her profile.
“The person was in a facility at the time, and I had on many occasions visited fans in Sydney.”
Upon realising the girl had perused through the alcohol in her dining room cabinet, Maggie sent her back home in a taxi.
When she received the call years later, Maggie said she “complied” with what was asked of her and expected that to be the end of it.
However, she sadly became wrongfully convicted of sexual assault in August 2015.
“It was my worst nightmare,” Maggie told A Current Affair.
“That’s all I can say.”
The 78-year-old detailed her tumultuous journey in a new autobiography, The Gloves Are Off.
Maggie told A Current Affair that the grinding stress of the trial led to her post-traumatic stress disorder.
She reportedly believes that the lasting impact of her onscreen role as “The Freak” played a huge role in the media coverage of her trial.
“The trashy reports, it was constantly ‘Joan Ferguson’,” she said.
“No respect at all, but I guess that’s the way things are. Guilty until proven innocent.”
However, Maggie said her family remained supportive of her the entire time.
“They were there,” she said.
“And their love was unconditional.”
The Home and Away actress was cleared on appeal in December.
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