When Madeleine West knocked on her rapist's door, his wife offered her a cup of tea.

Madeleine West is no stranger to a performance. But she says her "finest piece of acting" wasn't on screen — it happened on a quiet suburban street in 2022.

On the morning of June 13 that year, West took on the most confronting role of her life: confronting her childhood abuser.

Her mission? To get a confession from the paedophile who had abused her, and at least six other children, in the regional Victorian town of Woodend and Sunbury in Melbourne's north-west in the 1970s and '80s.

Peter Vincent White, her old next-door neighbour, was the monster hidden in plain sight.

First, listen to Madeleine West on Mamamia's No Filter. Post continues below.

White was the local plumber, known for his charm, generosity, and readiness to help. He used games, toys and treats to groom and abuse seven girls and boys aged between four and 14. His victims were neighbours, children of friends, or his own kids' friends.

West was just four years old when the abuse began. It continued until she was 11 — a secret she kept buried for more than 30 years.

"No one would dream that this wonderful, generous person who held fabulous parties and invited everyone in the neighbourhood, who'd pop over … would fix your block toilet without batting an eye, was using that very positive public facade, to hide the most horrific… heinous, cataclysmic crime you can imagine," West told No Filter's Kate Langbroek.

"His house was the most magnificent house in the neighbourhood, with all the bits and pieces that would attract children. And his wife was a frequent babysitter for the neighbourhood, so children were drawn to that area."

In 2018, West made the courageous decision to report the abuse to the police. She didn't want what had happened to control her anymore. But with the years that had passed and no physical evidence, police didn't have enough to pursue the case.

Then, in 2020, another victim came forward.

It sparked a major police investigation — one that culminated in West being fitted with a wire and preparing to come face-to-face with her abuser for the first time in over 30 years.

Confronting her abuser.

West knocked on the door. White's wife answered, surprised.

"They were both in their dressing gowns," she said. "She went straight into 'Oh, Mel, what are you doing here?' He was behind her shoulder, and his face dropped. I knew in that moment — I've got you. You've been waiting. You've been waiting so long for one of us to rock up on your doorstep. And here I am."

They invited her in. Made tea.

White busied himself silently in the kitchen, clearly unsettled. West had done her research — she knew how to speak to a predator in a way that might draw out a confession.

"I said to him, 'I wanted to take this time to talk to you because we had such a special relationship, and I understand that people are sometimes driven by needs and wants, that not everyone understands. But we understand. I just feel like I need to hear it acknowledged. I need us to talk about that.'"

White said he didn't know what she meant. So she said it.

"Well, when you touched me, Peter, when you raped me," Madeleine said.

"At that point she walked in, and he was just standing there with a cup and the tea bag kind of frozen."

West worked with police to snare a confession from her abuser. Image: Instagram/msmadswest.

White broke down crying. Claimed he didn't remember. Apologised. Thanked her for coming.

"I imagine [this] was his way of discharging the fear that I would go and speak to someone else," West said. "If I wrap it up with a nice pretty bow right now, she won't go anywhere else, completely unaware that I had a wire on."

The conversation lasted 45 minutes. It ended with small talk and an invitation to return for dinner.

"I wrapped it up, and just by saying, 'Thank you for inviting me into your home, but just thank you for acknowledging that. That makes so many things fall into place, and just made me feel so much better'," Madeleine recalled.

"I walked out the door and nearly collapsed."

Waiting outside was a police car.

"It's the finest piece of acting I've ever done," she said.

In December 2023, White pleaded guilty to 33 separate charges and was sentenced to 15 years in jail.

A young Madeleine West. Image: 60 Minutes.

Shrugging off the blame.

West had the opportunity to face him once again, this time when she and other survivors read out their victim impact statements in court.

She turned around to face her abuser, demanding he look at her as she recounted the devastating impact his abuse had on her life.

"That was the ultimate detox. That was allowing me to shrug off the cross of blame and shame and depression and self-hatred that I'd carried my entire life for the first time," West said.

"I literally said, 'I'm dropping this bag. I'm leaving it here, and you can take it back to your cell with you, where I hope you rot and die.'"

As she freed herself from that burden, West felt her younger self by her side.

"I could feel thousands of women and thousands of men who've never had an opportunity to say the words to discharge that trauma — I could feel them behind me in that moment, and I'll never forget it. It was life-changing."

Now, West is focused on the future as she prepares to welcome baby number seven.

"I see myself living large, laughing loud, loving, hard with none of the barriers that stopped me doing that," she said.

Feature image: Instagram/msmadswest.