Breaking down barriers

Editorial: Joel Peterson

Photography: Andrew Henshaw

Detective Senior Constable Renee Prestia just wanted to help.

It was May 2016, while Det Sen Const Prestia was working at Broadmeadows Police Station, when a call came over the radio that immediately caught her attention.

Upon looking into the matter she quickly realised it was anything but straightforward.

The call became Operation Chetah, a significant family violence investigation that stretched over several months and required Det Sen Const Prestia to delve deeper into a case than she ever had before.

The victim had immigrated to Australia in 2014, spoke little English, was significantly younger than her husband and had been subject to significant family violence over a period of two years.

What remained unclear was where the victim and offender were at the time of the latest incident being called in over the radio.

“I called the police members on scene to speak about it and realised it sounded like a live kidnapping,” Det Sen Const Prestia said.

“My colleague and I went to a street in Meadow Heights and at the end of it there was a park. We were looking through the park thinking, worst case scenario, we could find a body.”

Their search took them to the Northern Hospital in Epping, where the victim was in the emergency department. She was in a neck brace, visibly frightened and reluctant to provide information.

The offender’s car was also at the hospital. Within 15 minutes of detectives arriving, he was arrested.

Det Sen Const Prestia remained with the victim and was able to get details of the latest incident, before remanding the offender for being an unacceptable risk. The man has remained in custody ever since.

Over the course of several months, Det Sen Const Prestia took numerous statements from the victim with the aid of an interpreter, identified 48 witnesses and 65 exhibits of evidence as part of a painstaking investigation.

“I thought we really needed to do as much as we could. He’s in custody, she feels safe, this is our time to do our job properly,” she said.

After months’ worth of groundwork and factfinding, Det Sen Const Prestia and the victim had developed a level of trust that would prove critical to the next phase of the investigation.

Det Sen Const Prestia would drive the victim home after she visited the police station to make one of a countless number of statements, and would constantly reassure her through her sister and brother-in-law of how the legal process was unfolding.

“It was hard because that was her normal. Going to the police, withdrawing her complaint, because while she was living with him she had no support from her family and that was all she knew,” Det Sen Const Prestia said.

But her unerring dedication to the case made it possible, and eventually resulted in the victim revealing she had twice been raped by her husband.

Broadmeadows Crime Investigation Unit's Detective Sergeant Peter Griffiths said due to the relationship Det Sen Const Prestia had formed with the victim, she kept primacy of the investigation.

“Usually in that situation the Sexual Offences Crime Investigation Unit would take over, but Renee was able to keep the case given the relationship she had built with the victim,” Det Sgt Griffiths said.

“It’s very hard for some people to come forward, and certainly the victim built up enough trust in Renee over that period that she felt comfortable to disclose that.

“The victim was reluctant to report due to cultural issues and sensitivities making the investigation difficult, though through empathy and trust a relationship developed which broke down some of those barriers to reporting.”

Further exemplifying Det Sen Const Prestia’s commitment was her role in returning the victim’s son home to Australia from Lebanon.

The offender had sent their son, who was almost 18 months old, to live with his elderly parents, fearing the intervention of the Department of Health and Human Services.

Det Sen Const Prestia, with the assistance of agencies based in Australia and abroad as well as the Family Law Courts, succeeded in returning the child to Australia. Their son returned to Australia at the age of two-and-a-half.

“It was killing her. Our kids are only nine months apart in terms of age, and I’d be the same if it happened to me, let alone the situation she was in with her husband,” Det Sen Const Prestia said.

“At times I had to pull myself back and remember I’m the investigator and I need to remain impartial, which can be difficult to do in a case like this. But I think it was good in a way because it just made me more passionate.”

All the while, Det Sen Const Prestia was pregnant with a child of her own and attended various stages of the court process while on maternity leave.

When the case went to trial, the offender was found guilty on all charges, including rape. At the time of Police Life going to print he was awaiting sentencing, and the victim had full custody of her son.

“People talk about juggling the job and other things. Renee’s number one priority is her family,” Det Sgt Griffiths said.

“For me, I just admire her work ethic and her professionalism. It doesn’t matter what the offence is, she puts in the same effort regardless.”

For her work, Det Sen Const Prestia was awarded the prestigious Mick Miller Detective of the Year Award for 2018.

“It was a real honour. It’s not why you do it but to have your work recognised and to get a good outcome from it means a lot,” she said.

“You just want to help. It could be a wife, a husband, a child, anyone. You’re making someone else’s life better by doing your job, so you do all you can to help them.”