Neighbors star Madeleine West reveals how she confronted her pedophile neighbor more than 30 years after he abused her in his home

Actress Madeleine West has detailed how she bravely confronted her pedophile neighbor more than three decades after his sickening sexual abuse plunged her into the “deepest, darkest hole” of depression and self-loathing.

Peter Vincent White, now in his seventies, was given a fifteen-year prison sentence for his brutal abuse of seven young victims aged between four and fourteen.

His life fell apart when the star of Neighbours, Underbelly and House Husbands knocked on his door in July 2022 while wearing a secret recording device.

The recording was crucial in White's prosecution and was shared publicly for the first time in a year 60 minutes episode that aired Sunday night.

In the audio, West could be heard exchanging pleasantries with White and his wife, who is completely deaf, before confronting him about the abuse.

She was shocked when White said he had no memory of committing any of the crimes, then begged her forgiveness.

“I don't understand,” he was heard saying on the recording.

'I don't know exactly what you're asking me. I'm so sorry. I don't remember doing anything like that. I'm sorry. Please, please forgive me.

“If…if I did that, I…I don't know anymore. I'm very sorry if I did that… it's gone from my mind.'

At one point, West was heard telling her abuser that his apology “meant a lot.”

In reality, however, the actress said she wanted to “claw his eyes out” when he asked for forgiveness for his crimes.

“At that point you're in acting mode and you're like, 'Sure,'” West said.

'What more can I say? Hit him in the face? Kick his teeth in? I felt like doing that. I wanted to claw his eyes out.

'To forgive? Give you words that will make you feel better so you can get back to your life, your happy, healthy family, and your international travels.

“Meanwhile, I'm in the deepest, darkest hole I've ever been in in my life – and you want forgiveness?”

West was abused between the ages of four and 10 by the married father-of-two at his home in Woodend, 70 kilometers northwest of Melbourne.

She said the popular plumber's home was a “magnet for children” and he used his swimming pool, sandbox and VHS player to lure them in.

Between 1977 and 1988 he abused seven children aged between four and 14 in the front room of his house and in a caravan parked in the driveway.

The sexual acts to which White subjected the children are too disgusting to publish.

West suffered the most severe and persistent abuse of all, admitting that she did not know how many times White had raped her because it had “all faded away.”

She required surgery after an incident left her with serious physical injuries.

“My little body was completely violated,” she said.

West, whose child name was Melanie Ann Weston, shared the abuse with her parents, who she said “didn't know what to do.”

“There was no one who stood up for me when I was a kid,” she said.

'And here I was given the opportunity to stand up for myself in a very meaningful way. And I was terrified, terrified.”

She went to the police in 2017, decades after the abuse took place. Her childhood friend Amanda contacted police separately two years later.

Their testimonies helped police build a case against the pedophile, whose 'brazen' offense shocked even the most hardened sex criminals.

During a plea hearing in Victoria County Court last year, West demanded White look her in the eyes as she read her victim impact statement.

She later said on Instagram that “he was crying, looking away… Over and over I demanded he look at me.

'For the first time in his miserable life, he shows an ounce of integrity by looking and listening to me.

“His legacy will not be that of the good guy, the loving husband, the proud father and grandfather.

'No… the world will remember him as the monster who molested little children. It ends now.'

White pleaded guilty to 33 charges of child sexual abuse against the seven victims, including sexual penetration of a child under the age of 10 and gross indecency.

He was sentenced to 15 years in prison last December, but will be eligible for parole in nine years. By then he will be 82 years old.

After the conviction, Madeleine celebrated with other victims and said it took 40 years for the verdict to be handed down, but now it has arrived.

'It is only a pittance compared to the life sentence that victims of childhood sexual abuse serve, but… [it] shows that victim survivors are not alone, that it was never our fault, that we are not broken and that justice is possible,” she said.

'This is a crime against children. Of the worst possible kind.

“By continuing to pretend it isn't happening, we are deliberately putting our children in danger, just as we have remained in danger like so many generations before us.

'Ignorance is no longer an excuse.'

On Saturday, West admitted she was both concerned and relieved that her harrowing story was about to be broadcast on national television.

She said sharing her story finally freed her from a 40-year burden.

“Some may say I'm airing dirty laundry, but I know there are so many others out there feeling dirty and broken too,” she wrote on Instagram.

“I want you to know that it was never your fault. You are not alone. You have every right to reclaim your history. And the more we speak out, the louder our voices, the more we talk about it at dinner tables, in schools, at work, and shout it from the rooftops, the fewer places there are for these bastards to hide.”

1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)

National Sexual Abuse and Redressal Support Service 1800 211 028