A well-known Sydney solicitor will face court over sexual abuse claims.
Well-known Sydney solicitor Rodney Gersbach will face court over claims he allegedly sexually and physically abused his daughter from the age of four.
His daughter, Jayne Gersbach, 32, is seeking aggravated and punitive damages, accusing him of acting with malice and having a deliberate and reckless disregard for her rights, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.
Gersbach claims that her father raped her when she woke up drowsy and unable to move when she was in high school. She also claims she was forced to perform oral sex on her mother and being forced to have sex without consent, including during a bushwalk at the age of eight.
The solicitor has denied the allegations and insists there is no evidence, claiming his daughter is attempting to get hold of her grandfather’s inheritance. He is also trying to have the claims thrown out of court on the grounds that it was made too long after the alleged events took place.
“My daughter found out that I was about to receive an inheritance from my father's estate and she's doing this for the money,” he told Fairfax Media.
“The complaint was raised after she had a hallucination while having sex with her boyfriend while on ice. She saw my face on the face of her boyfriend. We took her to see a psychologist ... and the psychologist suggested she may have been the victim of child sex assault.
“She [then] developed this story about child sexual abuse by me.”
Because the case will be heard by the NSW Supreme Court, Gersbach is thought to be seeking damages over $750,000, however the exact figure is not yet known.
The matter will return to court in December.
