Justice 33 years in the making

TO our community, she is a born and bred local. To her family, she is a partner and mother.
To the police and judicial system, she is a rape victim.
But you can call her Heather.
This month, Heather Wynands’ rapist, former Berri chiropractor Robert Linke, 74, was sentenced to five years in jail for the crime he committed against her in 1988 when she was just 16.
It has been five years since Heather walked into the Berri Police Station to report the crime and now, no longer bound by the court process, she is free to tell her story.
“I STARTED ballet at the age of eight and from around the age of 10 I was diagnosed with a mild form of scoliosis,” she said.
“We made sure I kept up with regular chiropractor appointments.”
In 1988, Heather and her mum attended an appointment with chiropractor Linke at his Berri practice.
At the next appointment, Heather attended by herself and was looking forward to her end-of-year dance concert at the Chaffey Theatre later that day.
“I had just got my P-plates, so I had Mum’s car and it was the first day Mum had allowed me to drive her car on my own,” she said.
“I drove to work at Treasureway and after work I drove to his clinic in Berri and waited in the waiting room.”
At this point, Heather was unaware she was about to endure the most traumatic experience of her life by someone society deemed a professional.
“He said, ‘There’s a new treatment we are doing and I think it would really benefit you and it involves massaging the internal muscles’,” she said.
“I didn’t put two and two together. What he was going to do hadn’t even registered.”
Heather would go onto suffer in silence with trust and relationship issues, panic attacks, humiliation and shame, violation, and the loss of her innocence.
Once at home after the incident, the gravity of what had just happened was confirmed when Heather saw her mum’s reaction.
“She said, ‘Oh my God, he can’t do that’,” she said.
“Mum rang his clinic, but he had already left.”
The incident was never reported to the police.
“I didn’t want to bring any more shame or humiliation to myself and there were a few girls at school that used to give me a bit of a hard time and I thought, ‘If they find this out, it is just going to give them more ammunition to pick on me’,” Heather said.
“So it pretty much just got swept under the carpet.”
As the years went by, Heather said she struggled to come to terms with what happened and she stopped dancing immediately after the incident.
“It consumed every part of me and wearing a social mask was becoming harder and harder,” she said.
Years later, when Heather and her partner decided to start a family, the safety of their became her whole world.
“I needed to teach them how to protect themselves against predators like Linke, but first I had to stand up, be brave and confront my biggest fear,” she said.
“One night, I rang my partner and said, ‘I’m going to be late tonight. I’m going to go to the police and report it’ and I did.
“I didn’t even make an appointment, I just rolled in there at 8.30pm one night and by pure chance I got the most amazing female detective.”
In the next five years, Linke returned to South Australia and the court process began.
He pleaded not guilty and the case went to trial by jury.
Heather, along with her mum and a detective, gave evidence in court and after two hours of deliberations, the jury found Linke guilty to one count of rape.
He received a five-year sentence, with a non-parole period of two years and nine months.
“When I heard his remarks about it being my fault that it happened and that he was trying to blame his receptionist for allowing me to enter his clinic, I knew I had made the right decision to report him,” Heather said.
In his sentencing remarks on Tuesday, May 4, Judge O'Sullivan said Linke was “opportunistic”.
“As her treating chiropractor, you were in a position of power in relation to your victim,” he said.
“You abused your power and raped her.
“(Forensic psychologist) Dr Lim notes that you went on to minimise and deflect responsibility for your own actions.
“You took no responsibility as the professional and the adult in a situation to ensure that professional and ethical boundaries were maintained.”
Heather said she no longer sees herself as a victim.
“I have taken back the power and control of my life which has been so refreshing and empowering,” she said.
“I created someone I thought people would like (and) I went to great lengths to hide my story and to protect myself from small, country-town gossip.”
Heather said she is saddened by statistics that suggest rape and sexual assault victims often turn to alcohol, drugs or suicide.
“I feel very, very lucky to be where I am today and I hope by sharing my story I will inspire other victims,” she said.
“Let’s stop protecting these predators.
“I am braver and stronger than I thought possible and that’s something Linke can never steal from me.”

Why now?

If there is a million dollar question to Heather’s story, it is undoubtedly: Why now? Why did it take 28 years to report it?
Heather was 44 and a mother of two when she reported the rape to police.
“Looking back now, I always knew I’d go to the police, I just didn’t know when,” she said.
“I thought, ‘What sort of person am I if I can’t go to the police and report my rape?”
“I wanted my daughter to look up to me and go, ‘Wow, my mum stood up to him’.
Along with being worried about no one believing her story as a 16-year-old girl, Heather said living in a small town also made it feel difficult to report.
“I didn’t want to be that girl that people say, “Oh, that’s the girl who was raped, or the girl who that chiro did stuff to’.
“I thought, ‘I can’t let people gossip about me’.”
But now, older and wiser and with the confidence that only age can bring, Heather said she wants to tackle the stigma surrounding the issue, with rape victims often anonymous in media articles.
“Society doesn’t feel comfortable dealing with these situations,” she said.
“But, as a victim, we are allowing them to think like that.
“Why are we shamed? Why should the victim feel shamed and humiliated?
“Why shouldn’t I have my name to this? I didn’t do anything wrong.”
Heather hopes her story can give rape victims hope that they will be heard, and justice can still be served, even years later.
“I feel it’s vital we educate our children from a younger age about consent, rape and professional boundaries,” she said.
“Maybe if I knew the boundaries a chiropractor had, I would never had allowed him to perform his ‘new treatment’ on me.”
After enduring a lengthy legal process, Heather’s advice for rape victims thinking about reporting the crime is to ensure they have a strong support network.
“I have been lucky to have a large group of girlfriends and my partner who would come to court with me; they kept me focused,” she said.
Heather also recommended seeing a doctor to organise a mental health plan and counsellor appointments.
From these appointments, Heather was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety and is learning new coping mechanisms.
“Victims need to know that society has got their back and won’t turn a blind eye to this type of behaviour,” she said.
“The Berri police criminal investigation branch, especially my detective, showed professionalism, empathy and support throughout this ordeal; I can’t thank them enough.
“Also my victim support person, who checked up on me and guided me through this daunting process, and my court companion, who sat with me while I gave evidence.
“My ‘normal' was taken away at the age of 16, but they have given me the opportunity to start living my own new normal.”
An SA Police spokesperson said any reports of sexual assault are taken “very seriously”, including those historic in nature.
“We strongly encourage any person who may have been the victim of a sexual assault – no matter when that may have occurred – to report that matter to police so that appropriate investigations can be made in relation to those allegations,” the spokesperson said.
“Each situation is different and at times complex, so these matters are investigated on a case-by-case basis.
“Investigators will examine what evidence may still be available and ascertain what further action can be taken once that evidence has been identified.
“SAPOL members can guide and provide support for victims through a range of counselling and victims services.”
If you or anyone you know needs help, contact Yarrow Place rape and sexual assault service on 1800 817 421 or if you are having thoughts of suicide, contact Lifeline on
13 11 14.