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Woman claims she was sexually assaulted at 14 by suspect in Beaumont children case

A woman has come forward to 7 News with shock claims about one of the most infamous cold cases in Australia’s history, saying she was sexually assaulted by the man at the centre of the investigation into the disappearance of the Beaumont children.

The woman, known only as Linda, said she was just 14 years old when she was confronted by Harry Phipps – the man who was this month identified as a major suspect in the disappearance of Jane Beaumont, 9, Arnna, 7, and Grant, 4.

Still dressed in her school uniform, Linda was on her way home from a friend’s house when she encountered a well-dressed man on a deserted street.

“He just walked me across the road and was just saying that, you know, you’re a really pretty girl, I’ve seen you around and I just went with him,” she tells Michael Usher in a major investigation to air tonight on Channel Seven.

Harry Phipps allegedly asked a group of young men to dig a trench at a factory in Plympton. Source: 7 News
Harry Phipps allegedly asked a group of young men to dig a trench at a factory in Plympton. Source: 7 News

“He wasn’t horrible; he wasn’t nasty."

The man she has identified as Harry Phipps shepherded her across to a vacant block used as a BMX bike track, and Linda says it was at that moment his demeanour changed.

“It was really terrible, he sorta started getting really slimy, really dirty talk and things like that,” she said.

Linda said it was there Phipps brutally assaulted her.

State-of-the-art technology is being used to determine where the burial site could be. Source: 7 News
State-of-the-art technology is being used to determine where the burial site could be. Source: 7 News

“I couldn’t tell anyone because I was too scared of them telling my father,” she told 7 News.

“I didn’t realise he was going to do what he did… but then again, I’m better off than what the kids were. I’m still here.”

She has come forward as part of a year-long Seven News investigation that has uncovered a potential burial site at a factory in Plympton, south-west of Adelaide's CBD, 52 years after the Beaumont children disappeared.

Harry Phipps owned the factory in Plympton, where the grave site is said to be. Source: 7 News
Harry Phipps owned the factory in Plympton, where the grave site is said to be. Source: 7 News

Phipps, who died in 2004, first became a person of interest when his son Haydn came forward, saying he had seen three children at their family home.

The factory, formerly owned by Phipps, was this month scanned using state-of-the-art geophysical technology where results showed a significant anomaly – an area of disturbed earth measuring about a metre wide, two metres long and two metres deep.

It is now officially a crime scene after Seven News shared findings with police investigators.

South Australian police have confirmed they will excavate the site in coming weeks.

Seven News Investigates - The Beaumont Children: What Really Happened airs on Wednesday at 9.00pm on Seven and 7Plus