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Debra’s rape plea: ‘I was considered fair game’

Australian actor and pop singer Debra Byrne has revealed details of multiple alleged sexual assaults against her while she was taping Young Talent Time as a teenager.

In a lengthy Facebook post on Friday, Byrne recounted being attacked by a number of different men on the set of the popular show in the 1970s. The post was later taken down.

The Facebook post.

The Facebook post.

The 57-year-old former princess of pop says the first man was convicted for raping her.

In another attack, she wrote, a man “digitally raped” her in a swimming pool during filming for the show’s 1972 Caravan Holiday segment.

“I was a very disturbed girl and was abused I believe because I was considered fair game,” Byrne wrote.

Byrne used the post as a plea for witnesses of a further alleged assault, which she says took place while she and and YTT host Johnny Young were filming a Red Tulip Chocolates commercial.

Byrne (centre) at the 2014 Logies with the cast of Fat Tony & Co.

Byrne (centre) at the 2014 Logies with the cast of Fat Tony & Co.

“There were more than two people in the studio. If this jogs anyone’s memory and you are comfortable to speak with me about what took place in the studio please contact me,” she wrote.

Mr Young’s daughter Anna told News Corp Australia her father had said Ms Byrne should go to the police about the allegations.

“He feels if any woman has been wronged in any way – he’s very protective – go to the police, don’t put it on Facebook,” she said.

Byrne was one of the original six cast members of Young Talent Time, which was a launch pad for careers including Kylie and Dannii Minogue and Tina Arena.

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