Australian soldier alleges torture survival course involved simulated child rape and left him with PTSD

A secretive torture training program has caused debilitating and unnecessary trauma to some Australian soldiers by forcing them into shocking acts of humiliation, including the simulated rape of child dolls and masturbating sex toys over bibles, a whistleblower has alleged.

The program deliberately exposes Australian soldiers to torture-like conditions for more than 72 hours, aiming to help them resist interrogation if they are captured on deployment.

De Pyle alleges that he became disorientated after being deprived of sleep, and was forced by instructors to renounce his Christian faith, simulate masturbation over a Bible, and commit depraved acts with a child doll using a sex toy.

As part of the simulation, he was told fellow soldiers would be killed if he did not comply.

In some instances participants have said they were required to withstand intimidation by police dogs, fire hosing or light physical abuse.

Trainees said they had been deprived of sleep and food for the duration of the program, an experience that causes some soldiers to hallucinate and lose touch with reality, according to the evidence aired in parliament.

It is unclear if any of the recommendations have been implemented, other than the creation of an online portal providing support information to veterans who went through the course.

Guardian Australia can reveal that one soldier took his life after giving confidential evidence to the inquiry. It is unclear what caused the deterioration of his mental health, and the Guardian is not suggesting it was due to his giving evidence.

De Pyle went through the training in 2019, aged 23.

He alleged that as part of the final stage of the training he was handed a dildo, and required to place it between his legs.

He alleged he was then asked to take the dildo and simulate ejaculating on to a Bible.

De Pyle alleged he had lost all sense of what was reality and what was simulation, because of the sleep deprivation.

In a statement, the department said the training was voluntary, and that participants were given the right to withdraw or seek support from an on-site psychologist at any time.

The department said the training required two professionally qualified ADF psychology officers, a medical technician and a neutral observer to be present during the training.

Dr Steven Scally worked as a dedicated medical officer overseeing numerous conduct-after-capture exercises in the early 2000s.

Scally was present during the training, but did not witness instances of simulated child rape or use of sex toys similar to those described by De Pyle.

Scally cited one incident in which he oversaw a semi-naked soldier being pinned to a wall and fire-hosed in front of other trainees.

But he said both he and the supervising psychologist felt unable to intervene.

De Pyle said he understood the need for the course, but took his case to the AHRC to try to force structural reforms, such as limiting the amount of sleep deprivation to 48 hours, and using monitoring psychologists chosen by the Australian Psychological Society, rather than the army itself.

De Pyle said that in the months after completing the course, he began experiencing a deterioration in his mental state, including flashbacks and nightmares. Eventually this progressed to quasi-psychotic episodes, he said.

In August 2020, an army psychologist diagnosed De Pyle with PTSD, related to his experiences during the training.

De Pyle is not the first soldier to speak up about the training.

In March 2016 a former SAS trooper, Evan Donaldson, alleged that he had been abused during a resistance to interrogation exercise 10 years earlier.

He said he had endured 96 hours of physical and mental stressors that caused him lasting psychological damage.

Donaldson alleged that one of the trainers had rammed his knee into his buttocks, causing a tear. He needed to use toilet paper to stop the bleeding.

He took his claim to the Tasmanian senator and Defence veteran Jacqui Lambie, who helped establish the Senate inquiry into conduct-after-capture training.

It also suggested that soldiers who had completed the training should be followed up for psychological screening.