A 7.30 investigation into one youth detention centre has uncovered a shocking abuse of power by some staff against the teenage detainees they were meant to care for.
Warning: This story contains details of sexual abuse.
Gary Glover is no longer behind bars, but he's still living a life trapped between four walls.
"All the years of the drugs and alcohol just made me a caveman; I sort of just stay inside," he told 7.30.
"I just keep to myself."
Gary carries the psychological scars of his time in youth detention 25 years ago.
"When I get up in the morning, and I look in the mirror, I just see a broken, hurt person.
"I'm not proud of who I am and I feel ashamed of myself and dirty."
The Dharug and Dharawal man is speaking out for the first time to make allegations of sexual abuse by a female worker in a government-run detention centre.
"I'm lucky that I'm not dead, lucky that I survived and I'm here to tell the story of what had happened," he said.
Gary's insular life in Sydney's western suburbs is spent with his family in a modest red brick cottage.
There's a new-found meaning thanks to baby daughter Jeddah, who arrived just after Christmas, her older sister Myla and their mother, Yaleela.
Gary's chest is emblazoned with a reminder not to let them down.
The tattoo reads, Death Before Dishonour.
"It means I'd die before dishonouring someone," Gary explained.
"It means I'd die for my kids."
As a young teen, Gary was hanging out late at night with older mates in south-west Sydney and getting into trouble with the police.
"They'd basically just steal cars and [go] joy-riding," he said.
"I was just a passenger, just following them around and I'd be blind drunk and that's what I went to Reiby for, for being in a stolen car and getting in a high-speed chase.
"I'm not too proud of it."
For almost 50 years, the Reiby Youth Justice Centre — on the outskirts of Sydney near Campbelltown — has been home to the youngest detainees in the state.
Many are Indigenous and some have challenging behavioural issues and come from disadvantaged backgrounds, which was eye-opening for Gary.
"It was pretty scary really. I didn't know what to expect. It was like being in jail but juvenile jail," Gary said.
"They're pretty rough boys … there's a lot of trouble in there."
That trouble has included sexual abuse perpetrated by some of the youth workers, who were supposed to be helping troubled teenagers.
A 7.30 investigation can reveal three former female staff at Reiby have been convicted of sexual offences against detainees.
Voice of a Survivor is a company that works with abuse survivors to assist them with legal claims.
General manager Leteisha Campbell says the Reiby centre has a shocking legacy.
"Its reputation for sexual abuse is enormous," she said.
"We've had multiple other people, males and females within Reiby, that have been [allegedly] abusing children.
"The public definitely needs to find out what is happening. Child sex abuse is rarely spoken about."
Paul Creed, a lawyer from Slater and Gordon, specialises in abuse claims.
"My own observation was that [sexual abuse] was prolific," he said.
"It was absolutely heartbreaking."
Gary Glover has trouble shaking the memory of one particular worker, Nadia Khalil.
Khalil was a mainstay at the centre, working there from 1994 until 2009.
"Nadia Khalil was a youth worker, youth justice officer at Reiby boys' home," he said.
"She was very flirty and very outgoing."
One night midway through 1997, 16-year-old Gary was watching television in the recreational room.
Khalil came in and, according to Gary, accused him of not making his bed.
Gary went with her back to his cell.
"She lit up a cigarette and she told me to go into the bathroom to smoke it … while she stood at the door," he said.
"When I finished the cigarette and walked out of the bathroom she was sitting on my bed and she was making a gesture for me to sit down next to her, and I was sort of nervous and shy.
"She said to me not to be scared, that no-one knows.
"It got worse and worse. I ended up having sex with her then."
Gary claims over the following weeks Khalil would go to his cell and they'd have sex.
"She kept on like, just grabbing me and making me perform sexual acts on her when I didn't want to. That happened several times."
Asked if he considered it to be abuse at the time, Gary said he had mixed emotions but knew it was wrong.
"I was sort of confused because I was still only young [and] … I'd come from hanging around some bad boys on the streets," he said.
"I knew it was abuse because I felt sick afterwards; I felt like I didn't want to do that and she made me do it."
It's a crime for an adult working at Reiby to have sex with a child over the age of 16 who is under their care.
Incredibly, in August 1997, Gary escaped out of the bathroom window of his cell with another boy.
He was just weeks out from his release date and claims that before he left, Khalil had given him her contact details.
"She'd held up a piece of paper and [was] saying to write down her number and yeah, I ended up escaping out of there," he said.
"The next day she came and picked me up. I went back to her place."
Gary alleges he continued to see Khalil at two houses in the local area and they would have sex.
He would spend almost six months on the run before being caught by police in February 1998.
Gary disclosed what he says happened with Khalil to a psychologist.
Clinical notes from a therapy session in September 2020 record Gary becoming emotional as he discussed her.
"Ruined all adult [relationships with] women", and "changed the way I thought", he's quoted as saying in the notes.
"She was dirty and sick."
Gary said the abuse has had a lasting impact and contributed to him going to jail for further offending.
"It just made me lose me [sic] self-worth, made me lose respect for women in general and I just had relationship problems."
Still paying the price
Dion Welsh is a Biripi man, trying to rebuild his life with his young family north of Sydney near Newcastle.
He's continuing to pay a heavy price for serious offending which has put him behind bars for long stretches and left him with plenty of regrets.
"It's important for me to stay out because I've spent 20 years of my life in there and I do not remember celebrating any birthdays out," he said.
"It's not good, because I've lost out on so many family connections."
He's relishing living with his girlfriend and her young son.
Dion is full of joy when he's chasing his girlfriend's son around the local park, climbing a jungle gym and pushing him on the swing.
He only had limited contact with his own father and wants to set a different example.
"I don't want to be a negative role model; I want to be a strong, confident male figure in his life."
Dion was 15 when he encountered Nadia Khalil at Reiby in September 1996.
He claims she would distribute snack food from a storeroom and, when they were alone, they would engage in sex acts.
"It went from talking, touching, flirting … to … hands down pants and whatnot," he said.
Dion says he was happy about it at the time.
"To be honest, I was over the moon," he said.
As a 15-year-old, Dion could not legally give his consent.
As an adult, his feelings have changed and he strongly believes it was abuse.
He says what happened with Khalil has badly harmed his relationships with women and made him distrust people in authority.
"Yeah, she's a predator," he said.
"She's old enough to know the difference between right and wrong and for her to prey on young boys that way she did, that's not good."
'People need to know'
7.30 has spoken with former staff who worked with Nadia Khalil at Reiby through the 1990s and 2000s.
They say the centre was a difficult workplace with some boys using inappropriate sexual banter.
Three workers said they had not witnessed Khalil engaging in inappropriate sexual behaviour and were shocked by her arrest.
However, one person who was a senior figure at the time said there were allegations about female staff engaging in sexual activity. They insisted the allegations were taken seriously and reported to police, but that claims were difficult to prove.
There were also allegations about staff supplying cigarettes to detainees.
Paul Creed is representing Gary Glover and Dion Welsh in civil legal claims against the state of New South Wales, alleging it failed to protect them from sexual abuse from Nadia Khalil.
He says he has dozens of other claims from men held as boys at Reiby who allege they were abused by her.
"I think the people of the state need to know why children within [the] care of the department and the minister were subjected to such horrific abuse," he said.
Gary and Dion are not the first men to say they've been abused by Khalil.
7.30 can reveal the 49-year-old was found guilty by a jury in the NSW District Court of committing 20 sexual offences against five other teenage boys while they were detainees inside Reiby.
The offences happened between 1997 and 2005.
The abuse survivors, who are now adults, cannot be named for legal reasons.
The court was told Khalil abused a position of trust and authority and had shown no remorse.
She's currently serving a 12-year prison sentence and is eligible for parole in June 2028.
Khalil has maintained her innocence and has claimed the men were motivated by financial gain.
Dion and Gary were not part of that criminal case.
They say they are speaking out because they want the public to know and deny being motivated by money.
"Money is nothing to me," Dion said.
"It's about what's right, it's about so many years of young kids going through juvenile justice systems where they should be trying to rehabilitate them."
Gary shared a similar sentiment.
"No amount of money could replace what she's done," he said.
"You could give me all the money in the world and it won't repair the damage that has been done."
Voice of a Survivor has written an unreleased report based on accounts of 14 men who were teenage detainees inside Reiby and allege they were abused by a worker named Nadia, who they suspect could be Nadia Khalil.
"Nadia's pattern of abuse described from our clients is that she's very flirtatious, gaining their trust; that then leads into bribery with cigarettes and other things … then leading into the sexual abuse," Leteisha Campbell said.
"I believe that there should be a further investigation."
'Recommended she not work at the centre'
An internal report obtained by 7.30 reveals there were serious concerns about Nadia Khalil as early as 1996.
The performance report by the acting operations manager states: "There is some concern about the physical contact Nadia has with detainees.
"There have been several reports in the past about what is commonly known as 'hands-on' behaviour from detainees with Nadia."
The report concludes: "It is recommended that she not work at the centre."
Gary's alleged abuse happened after that report was written.
"One hundred per cent, they could have [prevented it] if they have acted at that stage," he said.
"From that day on, any boy that's abused after that report is made is on the hands of Reiby."
Twelve years later, in 2008, Reiby conducted an internal investigation into Nadia Khalil.
Its report remains secret, but a court would later be told it found insufficient evidence of abuse.
Paul Creed from Slater and Gordon questions whether the review was handled appropriately.
"It appears to be an absolute conflict," he said.
"For the department to keep it in-house and to find no wrongdoing, the whole thing screams of being a cover-up."
The details of Khalil's abuse would remain secret until the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse prompted police to investigate and lay charges in July 2017.
The investigation was conducted by detectives in Campbelltown as part of Strike Force Redcliffe, which looked into sexual abuse allegations against former juvenile justice officers at Reiby.
"I was aware of an operation called Operation Redcliffe. I've never been contacted by this operation. I've never been spoken to by police," Gary Glover said.
Asked if he would give a statement to police, Gary said: "Of course, I would."
Dion Welsh also said he would consider it.
Life-long consequences for victims
7.30 understands three former female staff from Reiby, including Nadia Khalil, have been convicted of historical sexual offences against teenage detainees.
The other two are Katherine Asiminaris and Salote Takaiwai.
A fourth woman, Catherine McKeehan, was blocked from being registered as a psychologist after having a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old boy she first met inside Reiby.
Nadia Khalil is appealing her criminal conviction.
Her lawyer did not respond to questions from 7.30 about the allegations in this story.
Both Reiby and the Department of Communities and Justice, which is responsible for the centre, declined to make someone available for an interview.
In a statement, the department said it could not comment while there were ongoing criminal proceedings for Nadia Khalil.
Following the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, the department has had an increase in civil claims alleging abuse inside youth justice centres, although it did not specify the size of that increase.
The statement said: "Youth Justice NSW takes allegations of abuse seriously, and all misconduct claims are assessed by an independent investigation team and referred to the Police and other oversight bodies, where appropriate."
"YJNSW encourages any former client who has experienced mistreatment or abuse while in detention or under community supervision to report it to the Police."
NSW Police said it couldn't comment because of ongoing legal matters and the potential for future investigations.
The police continue to receive information related to Strike Force Redcliffe about allegations of sexual abuse at Reiby.
The damaging legacy of child sexual abuse can last for years and have life-long consequences, according to Leteisha Campbell.
"They suffer many mental health issues, they generally turn to drugs to drown out what happened to them, leading to a life of crime and incarceration and unfortunately, yeah, I see it daily and it's a vicious cycle that is really hard to get out of," she said.
Gary Glover and Dion Welsh say they've both experienced that damaging cycle.
They want a broader judicial inquiry into Reiby going back decades.
"If they know the real truth … they'd all be standing at the front of the juvenile justice centres picketing," Dion said.
Gary added, "I think that the public needs to be aware of it and so we can prevent this from happening to more kids in the future."
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