WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
Tuesday saw the publication of The Ninth Life of a Diamond Miner: A Memoir by Grace Tame.
She relates the horrible mistreatment she received from her teacher.
Nicolaas Bester, her teacher, was sentenced to two years in prison but only served 18 months.
Tame addressed with Scott and Jenny Morrison her inability to smile for photographs.
Tame hopes that her tale will help others who have experienced a similar tragedy.
Grace Tame has revealed in her new deeply intimate memoir the horrifying remarks made to her after she disclosed that her high school instructor had raped her.
The 27-year-old woman’s memoir, The Ninth Life of a Diamond Miner: A Memoir, released on Tuesday, reveals the horrifying facts of the sexual abuse she endured, her struggle with an eating problem, and her subsequent journey.
After Tame reported she had been raped by her maths teacher Nicolaas Bester on the floor of his office, she said a school staff member had told her she had also had “guy problems” in high school.
Tame, a former Australian of the Year for her advocacy on behalf of sexual assault survivors, also discussed the events that made news throughout Australia, such as her reluctance to smile in photos with former prime minister Scott Morrison.
Grace Tame has detailed in her new and highly intimate memoir the horrifying remarks made to her when she confessed that her high school instructor had raped her.
Tuesday saw the publication of The Ninth Life of a Diamond Miner: A Memoir by Tame.
Much of Tame’s memoir focuses on the horrible and repeated assault she endured at the hands of Bester when she was 15 years old.
When he groomed and exploited Tame, Bester was a 58-year-old teacher at St Michael’s Collegiate School, an Anglican ladies school in Hobart.
In 2011, the math instructor was sentenced to two years and ten months in prison for “maintaining a relationship with a minor under the age of 17” and “possession of child exploitation material.”
Bester served one year and nine months in prison and later complained that his conviction had lost him “everything,” including his community reputation.
Bester boasted about the abuse on Facebook, stating that it was ‘amazing’ and that men envied him.
Tame disclosed to her teacher that she had been sexually assaulted when she was six years old and an older child told her to undress in a cupboard before molesting her.
Tame stated in her memoir, “‘I had male trouble in high school, too,’ the (teacher) told me in April 2011 when I was 16 years old outside her office while we waited for the police to arrive.”
“I can’t believe you’ve had sex!” was a terrific statement I heard later that day when I disclosed as much as I could for the second time in my life.
They continued repeating, “I can’t believe you’ve had sex!” as I sat there in hysterics, still wearing my f**king school uniform.
Her attacker, a father of two, had molested her in the exact Catholic church he was allowed back to after his release from prison to play the organ.
The 27-year-old disclosed the horrifying sexual abuse she endured at the hands of her high school instructor, Nicolaas Bester.
Tame is frequently accompanied by her fiance Max Heerey, who is frequently spotted at gatherings.
Her story provided a real and uncensored look at the assault, including the moment when her attacker informed her he intended to take her virginity because he “couldn’t stomach” the idea of someone else “having their way with me in the back of a truck somewhere.”
Tame continued, “As if that was worse than an old grey carpet in my school uniform.”
If the two were observed outside of school hours, Bester would instruct Tame to appear to be his daughter.
Tame was assaulted on a frequent basis in four sites, including Bester’s school office, a chair in the staff room of a teacher he despised, a property he cared for, and a hotel.
In April 2011, she approached her tormentor in his office after reporting the assault.
Tame said, “I told him I hoped he died and that I despised him for what he had done to me, my family, and his.”
I had self-inflicted wounds on my arms from the duration of the abuse.
He shrugged and replied, “Well, if that’s what you think of me, then so be it.”
She also courageously described the time she lost her virginity to her rapist, while Tame was still wearing her August 2010 school uniform from the athletics carnival.
She detailed the physical agony of the ordeal and his vile words to her afterward: “I didn’t expect we’d get that far.”
A portion of the abuse occurred in his office, beneath a bookshelf on which a statue of Jesus was displayed.
In January of this year, Tame made news when she refused to smile in photos with Mr. Morrison and his wife Jenny at a morning tea for the Australian of the Year Awards in Canberra.
In January of this year, Tame made news when she refused to smile in photos with Mr. Morrison and his wife Jenny at a morning tea for the Australian of the Year Awards in Canberra.
Images of a stony-faced Tame and her partner Max Heerey were widely disseminated, but anyone anticipating an apology from Tame should not hold their breath.
She added, “The man revealed his true colors long before I frowned at him.”
And being responsible and devoted to your cause and friends has nothing to do with being popular. It is certainly not about being courteous.’
She stated that she purposefully frowned at Mr. Morrison because, in her estimation, he “had done and assisted in obviously bad things.”
She continued, “Regardless of your political beliefs, the suffering perpetrated by his administration was among the greatest in our nation’s history, including but not limited to survivors of domestic and sexual assault.”
“Had I smiled at him or pretended that everything was fine, I would have been a f***ing liar.”
Tame also described having an eating disorder and being hospitalized twice during the time she was being courted.
Later, she discovered that Bester had attempted to see her in the hospital while pretending as her uncle, but only her parents were permitted inside.
Tame is observed alongside her partner, Max Heerey. She detailed in her book how her abuser, Nicolaas Bester, manipulated her into believing she was in love with him.
Bester had cultivated her to the point where, at age 15, she questioned whether she was in love with a guy three times her age.
He reenacted the torture she endured at age six by compelling her to undress in a closet while he stood naked on the opposite side.
She disclosed that the terrible abuse made her worry whether she was a ‘psychopath’ like he was.
Tame is pictured in February at the National Press Club, where she appeared alongside Brittany Higgins.
Tame stated, “I blame myself for everything that occurred.”
I smashed my head against plastered walls and wooden floors in an attempt to exorcise myself to the point of unconsciousness.
Tame self-harmed as a result of the abuse, carving the F-word into her leg; despite five laser treatments, the scar remains.
After a hotel room rape, Bester asked Tame, “You weren’t into it, were you?” Only to reassure her that they would do it again, she was abused a second time.
“I believed I loved him,” said Tame.
Her book also discussed her marriage to the American actor Spencer Breslin and her current connection with Mr. Heerey, who is frequently seen at her side.
Tame believes that her memoir can aid those who have experienced comparable traumas.
“If nothing else, if this book provides a blueprint for one person that aids them in some manner, whatever that may be, then my work is done here,” she remarked.
“Evil thrives in obscurity.” Each of us has a compelling tale that could serve as a spark for the necessary transformation.
The memoir The Ninth Life of a Diamond Miner by Grace Tame is currently available for $49.99.
Tame is shown after delivering a compelling speech as she was voted Australian of the Year for 2021.