Source : Perth Now news
A trusted youth advocate with access to vulnerable children tied, bound and gagged young boys before beating their feet, a court has been told.
Former KIIS 97.3 Brisbane radio host and youth advocate Cody Haywood Schaeffer pleaded guilty to six counts of common assault in Brisbane Magistrates Court on Wednesday after submitting a group of teenagers to “cruel and unusual punishment” between 2021 and 2023.
Schaeffer committed the crimes while operating his charity Borderline Australia, which provided mental health education through various programs, including youth camps.
The court was told Schaeffer met his victims through his charity work, gained their trust over time before isolating them away from others in his home.
When alone, he offered to pay his victims money and, in exchange, would hog-tie them and flog their feet with a coat hanger, sometimes gagging and blindfolding his child victims without prior consent.
“All of the victims did agree initially; however, some victims had duct tape placed over their eyes and mouth which was not consented to,” prosecutor Kacie Atkinson said.
“When these children asked the defendant to stop, he did not stop as requested.”
At the time of offending Schaeffer was aged between 27 and 30; his victims were just 14 to 17 years old.
The court was told Schaeffer had known some of his victims since he was a teenager, seeing himself as their “big brother”.
“He was in a position of trust and power over these children who could not realistically be in a position to consent to anything,” Ms Atkinson said.
“He has used his position to prey on those most vulnerable in the community.”
As word spread of his offending, Schaeffer attempted to get ahead of the story.
“(Schaeffer) contacted one of the victim’s mother to discuss that people had been spreading rumours about him,” Ms Atkinson said.
“The victim’s mother was then prompted to speak to her son and found it was true.
“He attempted to get ahead of it all in a way that was favourable to himself.”
Magistrate Zachary Serra questioned the motive behind Schaeffer’s attack
“It’s like an unusual perversion, it’s not the normal thing that you do,” Mr Sarra said.
Ms Atkinson said there was no sexual nature alleged by the prosecution.
“The only basis for these assaults would either be based in sexual gratification or in some form of cruel and unusual punishment,” she said.
“We are not alleging here, as we cannot, that there was a sexual basis of the offending which does lead to the inference this was a punishment of some form.
“We don’t have information as to the intentions.”
None of the victims were left with physical injuries following the assaults however told police they were hurt during the act.
Schaeffer was known for his advocacy work, helping young people in regional and remote Australia navigate their mental health struggles.
As a teenager, he created music and dance initiatives for young people in his local Goondiwindi community on the Queensland-NSW border.
In 2023, Schaeffer was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia for his work, was nominated for Young Australian of the Year in 2022 and won the Brisbane’s Youth Citizen of the Year award in 2020.
Defence lawyer Danielle Egan said Schaeffer had struggled with anxiety and severe mental health crisis since allegations of his assaults began to circle.
Now living in Grafton in northern NSW, Schaeffer was forced to leave his work in radio and in the community but remains employed at the Crown Hotel.
“He has expressed remorse from the start … he has told his current employer, he has had many discussions about these offences both with his counsellor and current employer and people that he’s worked with in the community prior to these charges coming before the court,” Ms Egan said.
“What I’m instructed is, from the age of about 14 or 15, he didn’t hang out with people his own age, he was around adults.
“What he was doing was immature and jovial in his mind at the time, offering them some money to see how long they could go having their feet whipped.
“He understands his level of immaturity followed him all the way through his 20ss.”
Mr Sarra said the circumstances of the offending showed a level of “calculation and cunning”.
“They were tied, bound, gagged and beaten – it’s like a torture,” he said.
“This strategy was employed, what, to improve their mental health? It sounds whack to me.
“He is their mentor, he is their role model, he is the person who these children invested their trust, and he took advantage of their trust.”
Schaeffer was sentenced to nine months imprisonment, wholly suspended for a period of 18 months. Convictions were recorded.
The Australian Charities and Not-for-profit Commission reports Borderline Australia’s registration has been voluntarily revoked and its website has been disabled.
