THE family of the two girls who accused John Robert Hunter of sexually assaulting them when they were children says it is disappointed in the way the girls where treated during the trial.The family said it was particularly disappointed in the lack of facilities and resources at the Bendigo Law Courts for victims of sexual assault cases who are called to give evidence.The two girls, who now live interstate, were required to attend the trial in the Bendigo County Court, which, according to the family, was originally scheduled to take five to seven days.However, during the first day the defence successfully separated the case into three separate trials before three separate juries, so that each girl’s accusations could not influence the separate juries. The three trials ended up taking four weeks.During that time, the girls and their family were holed up in two motel rooms and then, after the first week, a two-bedroom apartment.When they did attend court to give evidence, the girls’ family said there were no provisions for victims and that they were left outside the court, where the defendant often walked past them.“This was most humiliating for them,’’ the girls’ grandfather said.“Could there not have been a room for the victims to wait to give their evidence away from prying eyes?’’During a trial, victims are often put through the “gut-wrenching rigours’’ of testifying and are often cross-examined by the defence. For the older girl in the Hunter case, the issue was compounded when, because of an inappropriate question asked by the defence to the police informant, the case was deemed a mistrial.For the case to be reheard, the girl would have had to have been cross-examined for a second time, something her grandfather said she felt physically and emotionally unable to do.As a result, the prosecution was forced to discontinue with the charges.The family also questioned the use of an old CD player to play a recording of Hunter’s police interview to the court. The girls’ grandfather said the device’s volume was not adequate, which made the interview very hard for the jury to hear and understand.A spokeswoman for Attorney General Rob Hulls said the government had passed legislation to ensure that victims of sexual assault could have their evidence recorded to avoid coming into contact with the accused. She said the state budget had provided $2 million for a Legal Services Masterplan to assess the future needs of all Victorian courts, including Bendigo.Hunter was this week convicted of two counts of committing an indecent act with or in the presence of a child under 16 (the younger girl).He will serve at least 18 months in jail and will be listed on the sex offenders’ register for 15 years.The charges date back more than a decade, when the victim, now 18, was a young child.