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New twist in surrogacy scandal

Mother Pattaramon Chanbua with baby Gammy. Picture:AP Photo/Apichart Weerawong

A victim of child sex offender David Farnell, the WA father at the centre of the baby Gammy surrogacy scandal, has expressed disgust at an allegation her abuser wanted the Down syndrome baby abandoned at a Thai temple.

Sarah, not her real name, said Mr Farnell, who was jailed for repeatedly abusing her and her sister in the 1980s, had shown again he had "no regard for young human life".

The ABC's 7.30 program claimed this week that Mr Farnell begged the owner of Thailand Surrogacy, Antonio Frattaroli, to leave Gammy outside a temple at night while he took Gammy's healthy twin sister Pipah to his Bunbury home.

"He wouldn't have abused us if he had regard for our emotional and physical wellbeing," Sarah said yesterday. "He's proved it again with these babies."

Mr Farnell, who denies the temple claim and abandoning Gammy, was jailed for three years in 1997 for repeatedly molesting Sarah and her sister, who were aged 7 and 10, over two years in the 1980s.

Sarah, who lives in Queensland, spoke publicly last month to _The Weekend West _for the first time since Mr Farnell abused her after the outcry over Gammy's story.


The Thai surrogate who gave birth to Mr Farnell and his wife Wendy's twins accused them of abandoning Gammy and taking only his healthy sister to Australia.

It then emerged Mr Farnell was a child sex offender, who as well as crimes against Sarah and her sister, was jailed in 1998 for indecently dealing with an 11-year-old.

Sarah yesterday repeated her call for WA's child protection agency, which is investigating Pipah's wellbeing, to remove the eight-month-old girl from Mr Farnell.

Sarah's father Bob, also not his real name, said child protection officers visited one of his other daughters, who was also a victim of Mr Farnell and lives in WA, to hear her views on the matter.

"My reaction is just shock," he said. "I suppose there's more behind the story than what he's let on.

"Child protection have got to let the public know the results."

He said everyone had an interest in what the department did about the issue and not keep any unpopular decisions in the dark.

Department for Child Protection director-general Emma White said the case was still subject to an ongoing thorough assessment.