‘It’s a horror from which I’ll never escape’: Prisoner star Maggie Kirkpatrick ‘still suffers from PTSD’ after being falsely accused of sexually assaulting a minor
- Maggie Kirkpatrick, 79, is famous for her role as guard Joan ‘The Freak’ Ferguson in Prisoner
- She was charged with sexually assaulting a teenage girl in 1985
- In August 2015, Ms Kirkpatrick was found guilty but was exonerated four months later
Actress Maggie Kirkpatrick was falsely accused of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old psychiatric ward patient in 2013.
But it wasn’t until December 2015 that Ms Kirkpatrick’s wrongful conviction of sexual assault was cleared on appeal.
Reflecting on her ordeal this week, the Prisoner star, 79, told Woman’s Day she ‘still suffers from PTSD’ and that ‘the nightmare of torment continues’ for her despite the charges being quashed.
‘It’s a horror from which I’ll never escape’: Prisoner star Maggie Kirkpatrick ‘still suffers from PTSD’ after being falsely accused of sexually assaulting a minor. Pictured: August 2015
Kirkpatrick starred as prison officer Joan ‘The Freak’ Ferguson in four seasons of Prisoner from 1982 to 1986.
In 2013, she was advised that she was under investigation for alleged sexual abuse by Victoria Police.
The allegations were made by a troubled young fan whom Kirkpatrick had agreed to meet at a psychiatric ward in 1985 and later invited to her home for a meal.
After enjoying a glittering career Ms Kirkpatrick’s world came crashing down when she learned she was facing allegations of sexual assault on New Year’s Eve in 2013. (Ms Kirkpatrick as Joan ‘The Freak’ Ferguson)
Exonerated: Ms Kirkpatrick was wrongly convicted of sexual assault in August 2015 but was cleared on appeal in December 2015
Kirkpatrick was charged with two counts of indecent assault and one count of gross indecency with a person under the age of 16. All charges have since been cleared.
After being wrongfully convicted, she was sentenced to an 18-month community corrections order and required to complete 100 hours of community service.
Thankfully, justice prevailed and she was cleared of all charges four months after her conviction.
But despite being vindicated, she says the ordeal continues to haunt her.
‘How do you ever get over such shocking allegations, especially when they weren’t true? I still suffer PTSD. I still have trouble sleeping. It’s all so raw and it’s horror from which I’ll never escape,’ she told Woman’s Day.
‘I still suffer PTSD. I still have trouble sleeping’: Despite Kirkpatrick being cleared of all charges four months after her conviction, she says the ordeal continues to haunt her
‘it doesn’t remove the stigma. It doesn’t remove the scar, which I will probably carry for the rest of my life’: In 2019, Kirkpatrick appeared on A Current Affair, where she described her wrongful conviction as ‘her worst nightmare’
In 2019, Kirkpatrick released her best-selling memoir The Gloves Are Off, which detailed her career highs and lows, as well as some of her personal struggles.
That same year, she appeared on A Current Affair, where she described her wrongful conviction as ‘her worst nightmare’.
‘It was right and proper that I be exonerated, but it doesn’t remove the stigma. It doesn’t remove the scar, which I will probably carry for the rest of my life,’ she said.
Ms Kirkpatrick developed post-traumatic stress disorder after the trial and wrote about the struggles in her book.
Read more: In 2019, Kirkpatrick released her best-selling memoir The Gloves Are Off, which details her career highs and lows, as well personal struggles throughout her tumultuous life