The ever controversial John Laws has once again caused social media storm over his treatment of an elderly sexual abused victim during a live segment on his 2SM radio show. Outraged listeners said he mocked and degraded the 80-year-old man for not doing something about the abuse he suffered from when he was just 11 years old.

On Thursday, the 79-year-old radio personality entertained a call from a distraught recluse named Brian, who was sexually abused several times by two men when he was just 11 and 14 years old. Although he sympathised with the caller later on, Laws appeared to have been frustrated over Brian’s inability to help himself.

Laws, who could be heard impatiently urging Brian to tell his story on air, huffed when he learnt the caller was already 80 years old but the crimes against him happened when he was just a young man. Brian explained that contrary to what Laws thought, he reported the sexual assaults to the police in the ‘60s and again in the’70s, but the police just told him to get over it.

He berated Brian for not doing anything while he was being abused. Never mind that Brian was just 11 years old when he was first violated or just a little older at 14 when he was again abused, Laws believed that Brian should have screamed and fought his attacker.

When Brian told him he didn’t do anything, Laws said he couldn’t understand why he didn’t. He added that if he were in Brian’s position, he would have surely lashed out at his attackers.

He also interrogated the caller why he didn’t go to the police right after the attacks. Brian waited years before he could share his story to the authorities, who promptly told him to just forget about it. Brian explained that he couldn’t then because the location was miles out of town. His first attacker was also the boss of the property and there were only the two of them then.

Laws still wasn’t satisfied, insisting that he should have told his parents. Brian, who started crying, said there was no such thing as “family love” in his life. The incidents left Brian unable to give love or have a relationship, saying it just “turned me right off it all together.”

“I feel very sorry for you but I don’t know what can be done about it now, I mean you are 80 years of age, we’re going back a long, long way,” Laws told him, adding that perhaps their talk made Brian feel better. But when the caller replied “not really,” the radio host told him, “So in other words, we’ve wasted each other’s time.”

Laws also gave his assessment of Brian’s isolated life, saying maybe he wasn’t happy because he refused to open up to people. He advised him to ask other people about how they feel instead of just thinking of his own problems all the time. Laws told him that while it’s difficult to trust and talk to people because of what happened to him, he should give it a try.

He offered his ear should Brian wanted to talk more and needed someone to listen. At the end of their call, he forced Brian to say “thank you.”

Listeners were left fuming over Laws’ treatment of Brian, saying he acted like it was a simple problem to solve when he didn’t know anything about abuse. They thought Laws was condescending and insensitive towards Brian’s problems. Meanwhile, non-profit organisation Bravehearts, which helps sexually abused children, has reached out to Brian.

This isn’t the first time Laws has been criticised over his treatment of sexual abuse victims. In 2013, a female caller revealed that she was repeatedly sexually abused by the members of her family, including her father and uncles, for nine years starting when she was just six years old. She said her mother believed that the abuse was her own fault, which prompted Laws to ask if it was indeed her fault and if she was being a provocative child.

He refused to apologise later following media outcry, claiming the caller didn’t mind his line of questioning. At another time, he said that women who dressed provocatively were viewed as “rape bait.”

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