Tracy Grimshaw speaks out about disgraced co-worker Ben McCormack’s sentencing
A Current Affair host Tracy Grimshaw has revealed how Channel Nine workers responded to the news that their reporter colleague Ben McCormack was a “proud pedo”.
Last night, Grimshaw opened the show by addressing McCormack’s sentence to a three-year good behaviour bond and a $1000 fine. The sentence came after he pleaded guilty to two child porn charges.
“Now it’s over you are entitled to a statement from us,” Grimshaw said.
ACA had wanted McCormack to agree to do an interview with Grimshaw so he could explain himself. “We’ve offered him an opportunity to be honest with us and with you about how this happened by sitting down with me and answering questions. So far, he’s refused — but the offer stands.”
Grimshaw told viewers that when staff found out about McCormack, whom many had worked with for years, their reactions “ranged from utter disbelief on the day he was charged to utter sadness, shock, and revulsion as the nature of the offences emerged”.
“For me personally, I wished it was some terrible mistake,” Grimshaw said.
“That maybe he’d been researching a story and his actions had been misinterpreted.
“But when the detail of his online discussions became clear, when he called himself a ‘proud pedo’ who was attracted to boys aged 7 to 13-years-old, I realised it was no mistake by the police.
“How could he do that? It was horrifying.”
Tracy Grimshaw speaks out on Ben McCormack. #9ACA pic.twitter.com/0mlYNkD23S
— A Current Affair (@ACurrentAffair9) December 6, 2017
Grimshaw recalled how McCormack was sent to Singapore to confront former Hey Dad star Robert Hughes about his sexual abuse of young girls.
“How the hell could Ben McCormack ask Hughes those questions, when he’s now admitted to the court that his own private attractions to children had already been triggered a couple of years earlier?” Grimshaw said.
“How could he offer professional support and comfort to Sarah Monahan whom he knew had suffered for years after her abuse as a child, while at the same time privately harbouring his own perverted fantasies?
“I don’t know ... I’d like to ask him that.”
In September, McCormack pleaded guilty to two charges of using a carriage service to transmit child pornography after Skype conversations between him and a West Australian paedophile were intercepted by police.
Grimshaw concluded the segment about McCormack’s sentencing by telling viewers she respected the judge’s decision.
“We acknowledge that Judge Paul Conlon, who certainly doesn’t have a reputation for soft sentencing, says this is at the lower end of such offending, and has given Ben McCormack a three-year good behaviour bond, believing he’s a good prospect for rehabilitation,” she said.
“The Judge was influenced by the fact that McCormack had sought counselling for his urges before he was arrested.
“And if Judge Conlon thinks he’s no threat to children we trust his wisdom, and we certainly hope it’s true, and that Ben McCormack continues to get treatment.
“The children matter more than anything.”