A woman has described her daughter's distress and when she found her "screaming" in bed while under the care of an alleged pedophile nurse at a hospital in Tasmania.
Angela, a pseudonym, gave evidence at the second day of witness hearings at the commission of inquiry into the state government's responses to child sexual abuse in public institutions.
Her daughter, "Lillian", who lives with a disability and communicates using eye movements, hand gestures and devices, was a patient at Launceston General Hospital in her early teens.
There she was treated by James Geoffrey Griffin, who took his own life in late 2019 after being charged with child sexual abuse offences.
The accusations against Griffin were a major catalyst for the establishment of the inquiry, which will examine the handling of abuse complaints.
Angela indicated Griffin touched Lillian inappropriately without proper consent as part of a medical check. She also noticed Lillian had an "injury".
At one point, she arrived at the hospital to find her daughter screaming in bed.
"(She was) very distressed on the ward ... I've never seen her that distressed before. Something wasn't right. She was uncomfortable, She wanted to come home," Angela said.
Angela raised concerns about Lillian's treatment at a meeting with health professionals but they were "completely dismissed". She said no one from the hospital has reached out in the years since.
"They called me at one stage 'the girl with the ugg boots'. That's what they thought of me," Angela said.
Angela called child safety services about her daughter's treatment, saying she didn't know where else to go.
She later read about the allegations against Griffin, whom she knew as "Jimbo".
"Everything made sense from our last stay (at the hospital). It was a big shock. Everything that we assumed had happened, happened, and if not worse," she said.
"I feel like I've failed (her), one hundred per cent."
Angela said her daughter was "very distressed for a long time" after returning home from the hospital and her separation anxiety returned, making schooling difficult.
"I asked her if a man was bad. She said yes," she told the inquiry.
Angela said she planned to leave Launceston in coming years, adding her daughter would be happier elsewhere.
"She doesn't like going in there (the Launceston General Hospital). She starts yelling as soon as we get through the doors."
The inquiry on Monday heard from "Kim" who said her whole family had been "groomed" by Griffin, who invited her daughter to sleepovers his home after he treated her for an eating disorder at the hospital.
In October 2019, a month after initially being charged, four other women came forward with historical abuse complaints against Griffin between the 1980s and 2012.
The state government has already pledged to implement all the inquiry's recommendations.
Six weeks of public hearings are scheduled this year, with a final report due by May 2023.
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