Broken Fathers Podcast

Episode 15 - Jakob Overduin - 18 Years of Lies, 2 Years of a Failed System, 1 Day of Truth

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Episode 15.

Guest - Jakob Overduin

On our next episode I speak with Jakob, a 47-year-old from Sydney's North Shore. Jakob is the owner of an advertising company and multiple businesses in Bali. He recently concluded a two-year court battle, facing three counts of common assault and one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

Despite coming from a stable upbringing, Jakob's life took an unexpected turn. He once worked for Kerry Packer, managing advertising agencies before successfully launching his own. His journey into fatherhood and subsequent challenges began when he met his ex-wife at 28. They married and had a son, but their home life soon deteriorated due to his ex-wife's heavy drinking. Jakob tolerated the situation for the sake of his son.

The marital issues escalated when Jakob discovered his ex-wife with another man via CCTV footage from his bar. This revelation led to the amicable decision to end their relationship, acknowledging it had been over for years. They agreed to co-parent and manage their shared business affairs for their child's well-being.

However, the morning after this agreement, Jakob was shocked when police arrived at his door, informing him that his ex-wife had filed an Apprehended Violence Order (AVO) against him. Despite being 150km away from her at the time and having spoken amiably the night before, he was arrested based on her claim that he threatened to kill her. The police refused to hear his side of the story.

To make matters worse, his ex-wife included their son's name on the AVO and falsely claimed ownership of all their businesses. This instantly prevented Jakob from seeing his son or accessing his businesses. He attempted to show the police ASIC records proving his ownership, but they refused to listen to him

Two weeks later, Jakob received devastating news about his dog. Unbeknownst to him, his ex-wife had driven home drunk the night before, crashed her car, and severely injured his dog, leaving him paralysed and having to be put down. Her blood alcohol content was a staggering .282, almost 6 times the limit .

Jakob recounts a series of distressing events involving his ex-wife. He shares that after being discharged from the hospital, his ex-wife tracked down and assaulted his current wife, an incident captured on CCTV. She was arrested due to her impaired state but managed to have her drink driving and assault charges heard simultaneously. She used the night she was under the influence as an excuse for her actions during the assault. Jakob also describes a disturbing incident where people yelled "wife basher" in front of his four stepchildren at his home, expressing his concern that his son is only hearing one side of the story.

Jakob also discusses the ineffectiveness of the Property Recovery Order, noting that his ex-wife breached the order four times without consequence in her efforts to deny him access to his car. We also hear how all charges against Jakob were dismissed, a judgment he reads out from the magistrate.

 In June of last year, Jakob received an Instagram message from a man who openly admitted he was engaged to Jakob's ex-wife when she was pregnant with Jakob's son. He had visited her in Australia and was supposed to move to Australia to be with her but was cut off, only for her to later continue the relationship while with Jakob and then rekindle their relationship after she split with Jakob. Realising almost 20 years of his life was all a lie. 

 Finally, we discuss the financial incentives that encourage people to abuse the domestic violence system without repercussion for false allegations. Jakob bravely opens up about the difficulty of discussing such monstrous accusations, but we both agree that open conversation is essential to affect change in what we see as a b