EXCLUSIVE
A perverted boss who preyed on teenage girls in their very first job at a major coffee chain left them afraid to re-enter the workplace after years of abuse.
Mark Edward Whitelock, 52, from the Melbourne suburb of Mill Park, owned and operated two Hudsons Coffee franchises, where he subjected the young girls to sexual harassment and abuse for six years.
The once successful cafes operated from two major hospitals in Melbourne’s north-eastern suburbs.
On Thursday, the father of tennis pro Marcus Whitelock was convicted and fined $40,000 in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on two counts of sexual harassment after his young victims bravely reported him to WorkSafe Victoria.
He had pleaded guilty to two charges under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of failing to make the workplace safe by sexually harassing staff members between April 2014 and December 2020.
Whitelock’s companies were fined $250,000 – a fine that will never be paid because they are now in administration.
The court heard Whitelock had been ruthless because of his years of offending and, after being caught by investigators, offered a ‘toned-down’ version of his behavior to a forensic doctor.
Mark Edward Whitelock (pictured) abused teenage girls working at Hudsons Coffee
Whitelock (pictured right, with a young woman who was not alleged to be one of his victims) enjoyed touching, humiliating and abusing his young female employees
Magistrate Belinda Franjic convicted Whitelock of abusing his vulnerable victims, who had nowhere to turn.
The court heard that teenage sisters were among his victims, with both routinely enduring lewd interrogations, groping and sexual degradation.
“Did you fuck anyone this weekend?” he asked the 16-year-old, who was working her first job.
‘He asked her about sexual acts and the number of sexual partners she had had. On two occasions he grabbed her crotch and made unnecessary physical contact with her by pushing his hips into her and rubbing her body,” Ms Franjic told the court.
‘He continuously slapped her buttocks and grabbed her breasts. She said that Mr Whitelock habitually behaved in this way around male employees and that he encouraged similar behavior from the male employees.”
Her 17-year-old sister suffered almost identical abuse and sexual attacks, with her buttocks being spanked ‘at every shift’, the court heard.
Another 16-year-old in her first job told investigators that Whitelock claimed she “looked like a prostitute” and once gave her painkillers that he asked her to take in his car.
“So he could, so to speak, ‘touch her ass,’” Ms. Franjic said.
Another teen said he pushed her head into his crotch as she bent over and made comments about oral sex.
Whitelock’s other victims each shared similar stories of horror at the hands of their boss.
The court heard that teenage sisters were among Whitelock’s victims, with both routinely enduring lewd interrogations, groping and sexual degradation.
Whitelock is pictured at one of his Hudsons Coffee franchises, where he sexually harassed teenage workers
In a series of powerful victim statements read out in court, the consequences of Whitelock’s vile behavior were laid bare.
‘I often had panic attacks before or during my shift. “I felt constantly unsafe, uncomfortable, tense, belittled and often abused just by being in (Whitelock’s) presence,” one victim said.
“I was young and didn’t know what was expected of a boss,” said another. “When the inappropriate behavior began, I understood that this was normal and acceptable behavior from an employer.”
Another victim said Whitelock’s abuse had caused her lifelong problems with men and trust.
‘You stole my innocence. Your crime of vile words and disgusting actions paved the way for the way I allowed men to behave and act towards me in my life… you destroyed my life,” she said.
“You took away things that I will never get back. All the damage you caused left its mark on my entire life.”
The court heard that Whitelock had made it virtually impossible for the girls to report his offending.
Mark Edward Whitelock tried to use his work with children as a mitigating factor in his case
‘In circumstances where there was no HR manager on site with whom employees could easily speak, it was incumbent on the companies to inform staff how to report breaches to the company in a way that did not involve Mr Whitelock was,” said Mrs. Franjić.
‘The companies’ failure to properly inform their staff allowed Mr Whitelock’s egregious behavior to continue unabated.’
The court heard Whitelock claimed the demise of his ‘successful business’ was due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
He also used his previous “good character” to avoid conviction.
The court heard Whitelock had no previous convictions and had previously worked as head of fundraising at Eltham College.
He also has an extensive history of coaching football, including children in the AFL’s Auskick program.
He has now separated from his wife and has started a new career as a disability support worker, which is likely to end once his conviction is recorded.