‘Recurring nightmares’: Payout for woman raped by escaped prisoner

Thursday, 24 October 2024

Damon Exley escaped from Rimutaka Prison in February 2022, then abducted and raped a woman.

Sexual predator Damon Exley escaped from Rimutaka Prison disguised as a Corrections officer in February 2022, then abducted and raped a woman.

An internal investigation found he’d “manipulated” and “conditioned” staff, and exploited loopholes and poor practices to carry out jailbreak.

Now, the survivor has agreed to a “financial support package” from Corrections, which acknowledges its failures “ultimately resulted in the terrible and traumatic experience” she endured.

The woman who was abducted and raped by escaped prisoner Damon Exley has received a “generous” compensation payout from Corrections.

A top official from the department says failings by staff at Rimutaka Prison enabled the 2022 jailbreak and “ultimately resulted in the terrible and traumatic experience that the survivor has endured”.

That official - Corrections deputy commissioner Neil Beales - said he and his colleague Brigid Kean met with the woman in recent weeks and had “agreed a financial support package for her”.

The survivor says she’s still dealing with ongoing trauma from the attack.

“We consider this to be our moral obligation given our failings which led to Mr Exley’s escape. We know, and deeply regret, that this package will not undo the harm caused to the survivor and her family, but we hope that it may go some way to easing the ongoing burdens she faces as a result of the offending. We have also provided a fulsome apology.”

The 66-year-old survivor, who can’t be identified for legal reasons, said she still suffered anxiety attacks and recurring nightmares about her ordeal, had ramped up security at her home, and was yet to fully return to work.

“I [used to have] a lot of trust in people … but now I'm very, very cautious.'

She remained angry at Corrections about the escape - “he managed to pull the wool over their eyes in so many different places” - but said the confidential compensation package was “generous” and “gives me another start at life”.

Damon Exley escaped from Rimutaka Prison disguised as a prison guard, then abducted and raped woman.

Disguised as a Corrections officer, Exley, who was serving time for the attempted rape of real estate agent, cut through a fence in Rimutaka Prison’s plant nursery, stole a contractor’s van and drove through two security checkpoints to freedom in February 2022.

Two days later, at knife-point, he abducted and raped the woman, who’d picked him up hitch-hiking, before she raised the alarm and he was arrested outside a laundrette in Masterton.

A wide-reaching internal Corrections investigation that followed found Exley had “manipulated” and “conditioned” staff, and exploited loopholes and poor practices to carry out his escape.

At one of the security checkpoints, staff were looking at pictures of beaches on a computer as he drove by unchecked.

Corrections deputy chief commissioner Neil Beales led the internal investigation into Exley’s escape.

“[There was] a complete and utter failure of security, oversight and assurance by a range of staff,” an April 2022 report detailing the investigation’s findings says.

Beales, who led the internal investigation, previously said the incident was the worst he’d experienced in his 32 years working in prisons here and abroad and would be talked about by Corrections officers for years to come.

On Wednesday, he said Kean had been in regular contact with the survivor over the past year, and acknowledged her “immense strength and bravery in sharing her story with us”.

“We recognise the significant mental, physical and financial harm the survivor has experienced as a result of the offending. We remain in touch with her and have assured her that she has our ongoing support.”

Beales said Corrections had “learnt some very difficult lessons” as a result of the escape and made “significant operational and security improvements” to prevent a similar event.

The survivor said she wanted to thank the people who had helped her since the attack, particularly a support worker at Abuse and Rape Crisis Support Manawatu who had been “absolutely wonderful”.

Stuff previously reported that no-one involved in the failings that enabled Exley’s escape was sacked.

Three staff were sanctioned, while another quit.

Last year, when asked why no-one had lost their job, Kean said: “Our reviews of the incident determined that the escape occurred as a result of systemic failures. It was not the result of one sole cause, factor or person.”

In February, Exley was sentenced to a second indefinite term of preventive detention for the abduction and rape.

He has a decades-long criminal history, and the escape was his seventh from a penal institution since the 1980s.