'Predator': businesswoman abused three employees, including teens

CONTENT WARNING: This article refers to child abuse.

The abuse inflicted by a businesswoman on three of her former employees, including two young teenagers, has resulted in years of untold harm to them and their families, a court has heard.

Angela Phan, 30, faced the ACT Supreme Court for her sentencing hearing on Thursday (30 January) after admitting to sexually or indecently assaulting the three employees, two of whom were under 18.

Speaking to the court in person, the first survivor said she was 14 when she met Phan before she started abusing her after she turned 15.

“Me and the other girls deserve justice for years of sexual, mental, emotional and verbal abuse,” she said.

“I can never go back. All I want is to go forward knowing predators, groomers and abusers always get what they deserve.”

This survivor said after they met, Phan gave her “special treatment” like a small raise. They began talking outside of work and Phan complimented her, made her feel beautiful and understood, as well as making sexualised comments and touching her body.

They then began “a secret sexual relationship”, she said.

The court heard Phan told the survivor to delete texts from her parents, made her feel like they were controlling and tried to separate her from her best friend. She also got her to meet up by sneaking out of home at night or skipping school during the day.

Her parents found out about the ‘relationship’ and tried to stop it, but when police spoke to her, she tried to protect Phan by telling them she “forgot things”.

“I was protecting my predator for years without realising it,” the survivor said.

“Angela taught me to lie so I became pretty good at it: my friends, family, police and even myself.”

She began to struggle with her mental health and started taking alcohol and drugs as a coping mechanism.

The first survivor’s mother told the court the discovery of the ‘relationship’ had “shattered” her family.

“You locked her in secrecy, depriving her of her innocence and we will never forgive you for that,” the mother told Phan.

“[My daughter] once said to me, ‘I don’t want what happened to me to happen to any other young girl who Angela comes into contact with’.

“Her words reflect her compassion for others and highlight the importance of holding Angela responsible, not just for [my daughter’s] sake, but for protecting all potential victims.”

The survivor’s father asked the court to imagine what it felt like as a parent to realise what was happening to your daughter, a minor at the time, and being unable to stop it.

“The pain was sometimes so unbearable that we could not console each other,” he said of how his relationship with his partner suffered.

The second survivor, in a statement read to the court by the prosecutor, said she met Phan when she was 15 before starting a ‘relationship’ with her when she was 16.

She said Phan encouraged her to stop talking to her friends and would get upset when she spent too much time with her family, so she stopped seeing them.

“Angela made sure she was one of the few people in my life I had left,” the survivor said.

“I was a kid when I met Angela and she used that against me. I feel less of a human being and more of a toy or game because of what she did.

“My life is so much better without her in it.”

The court also heard that after the second survivor started a ‘relationship’ with Phan, her personality became “unrecognisable”, according to the survivor’s sister.

“What Angela stole from me, my sister and my family is unforgivable,” the sister said.

Afterwards, psychologist Tom Sutton, who assessed Phan, told the court she had spoken about how she had hurt the two girls and felt responsible.

Phan’s barrister, James Sabharwal, asked for an adjournment to seek a pre-sentence report for his client.

“It is incredibly unsatisfactory if this matter were not dealt with to finality today,” Justice Belinda Baker said.

However, she agreed and said she will likely continue the sentencing hearing for Phan, who remains on bail, on 17 April.

Phan pleaded guilty to a rolled-up charge of committing an act of indecency on a person under 16, as well as charges of grooming and using a carriage service to possess child pornography over the first survivor.

She also pleaded guilty to the persistent sexual abuse of a young person under special care over the second survivor and a rolled-up count of committing an act of indecency without consent over the adult survivor.

If this story has raised any concerns for you, 1800RESPECT, the national 24-hour sexual assault, family and domestic violence counselling line, can be contacted on 1800 737 732. Help and support are also available through the Canberra Rape Crisis Centre on 02 6247 2525, the Domestic Violence Crisis Service ACT 02 6280 0900, the Sexual Violence Legal Services on 6257 4377 and Lifeline on 13 11 14. In an emergency, call Triple Zero.