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AAP
AAP
National
Sam McKeith

Sex abuse victim tells of lifelong pain

Simon Davies (right) was extradited from the Netherlands in 2021 on child sexual abuse charges. (PR HANDOUT IMAGE PHOTO) (AAP)

A child sexual abuse victim of an international privacy activist has experienced lifelong suffering from being abused as a teen, a Sydney court has heard.

Simon Davies, 66, on Friday faced a Downing Centre District Court sentence hearing via audio-visual link after previously pleading guilty to child sexual offences committed in Sydney in the 1980s.

Davies, the former director of London-based Privacy International, was extradited to Australia from the Netherlands in 2021 on the charges after being arrested in Rotterdam in 2019 under a Interpol Red Notice.

He was wanted in NSW since September 2016, more than five years after police received a referral outlining historical allegations against him.

At Friday's hearing, two victims, who cannot be named for legal reasons, read statements to the court outlining the impact of Davies' offending on their lives.

One of the victims said he was abused by Davies at 16-years-old and recalled the offender giving him hard liquor one evening, which hampered his ability to prevent Davies' "predatory advances".

"I found myself weeping and crying for over an hour in the shower," he told the court, saying he felt confused, violated and defiled as a result of the abuse.

After "the loss of my virtue", he said Davies introduced him to the drugs speed and morphine and that drinking alcohol became a daily event.

"I have suffered lifelong as a result," he said, telling the court he had battled with finances, relationships and substance abuse in the years since being abused.

He said he had been homeless for periods and struggled to hold down jobs while dealing with "flashbacks" to the abuse.

"It's a constant struggle to maintain my sobriety," he said.

"I can only hope that Mr Davies at some stage in life does regret what he has done."

Earlier, another of Davies' victims said reading his statement was a chance to look the sex offender in the eyes.

He told the court he forgave Davies "for myself" so he could find some peace in his life and leave court never to think of the abuser again.

"I looked up to you as a child at that refuge and you abused that trust," he said.

Judge Sharon Harris adjourned the hearing to November 4 at Parramatta.

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