When Australian Conservatives MP Rachel Carling Jenkins uncovered her husband's child porn stash she went straight to the police and left him.
She now says Gary Jenkins is emotionally and financially abusing her - refusing to sign divorce papers, reach a property settlement or give access to assets.
Dr Carling Jenkins made the stunning revelations in a speech to Victoria's upper house on Thursday.
She said she and her son found Jenkins' "extensive collection" in the family home in February 2016.
"We were gutted," she told parliament.
"My marriage ended instantly and I left home the day I made that discovery and I have not returned to the family home since, except to pick up belongings."
Jenkins was sentenced to four months jail by the Sunshine Magistrates' Court in March and put on the sex offenders register.
Dr Carling Jenkins praised the police for their work, but did not think a "few months in jail" and being listed was adequate punishment.
She said she had long thought Jenkins was suffering a mental illness, but he would constantly refuse to get treatment.
"Gary does not have a mental illness, his behaviours stem from something much more sinister," she said.
Now, she cannot escape the man who already brought her so much pain.
"He's used time apart to abuse me financially, emotionally and psychologically," Dr Carling Jenkins told parliament.
"He has refused to give me a property settlement or any access to assets living me with continued unstable accommodation. He has resisted signing divorce papers."
However, Dr Carling Jenkins said the horrors of what's happened was not about her or even her husband - but about the victims.
"The faces of many are etched in my memory for eternity," she said.
"I pray the police were able to identify and rescue as many of these poor helpless and vulnerable victims as possible.
"I find myself now unconsciously searching the faces of little girls that I see on the streets, distressed when a face triggers a memory of a photo or a video of a little girl that I glimpsed in his collection."
Parliamentary colleagues lined up to give her a hug after the speech.
Fellow upper house independent Fiona Patten said she was saddened by what Dr Carling Jenkins went through.
"I think she was very brave and I hope that she moves forward and can put a lot of this behind her, but it will be hard," she told reporters.
Mental Health Minister Martin Foley said the case showed how family violence could come in "all sorts of forms".
"It may not be physical violence, but the emotional and financial violence that she's been subject to seems an awful set of circumstances,"
Share
