Protesters angry at dropping of case Debra Wooby (centre) at the protest on Monday. Child abuse victims have protested outside the Office of Public Prosecutions over the discontinuation of a case against an alleged attacker. Debra Wooby was 13 when she was allegedly abused at St Cuthbert's Children's Home in Colac in the 1970s. Ms Wooby first spoke of the case 30 years later and reported the allegations to police in 2009. She attended a committal hearing in Geelong last year and said that the court later scheduled a trial to begin on April 22. But the Office of Public Prosecutions told her a few weeks ago that the case could not proceed because of the statute of limitations. "It's been a long time for me, a lot of stress, a lot of waiting, to be told 'We're not doing it now'," Ms Wooby said. I'm hoping that they'll see that a lot of people are hurt by the statute of limitations and they've got to do something about it. Everyone's getting older, [our abuse claims] go back to the 1970s and even before then. Ms Wooby stood outside the office with 20 members of the Care Leavers Australia Network - a group for victims abused while in state care - on Monday afternoon. The office denies any statute-barred offences were involved in the case. An Office of Public Prosecutions spokeswoman said the defendant was charged with rape and indecent assault. After his committal in November, the evidence against him was reviewed. The view was formed that there was no reasonable prospect of conviction on the charges of rape and indecent assault, and the matter was discontinued by the Director of Public Prosecutions. At no stage was the defendant charged with a statute-barred offence," she said. Lawyer Angela Sdrinis said she knew of another case where less serious charges of sexual offences had not proceeded because the victim's report had passed the limitation period of the law at the time. If there are statutes of limitations ... they should be abolished and that might have to be retrospectively. [Failing that] the police and the OPP should at least satisfy themselves of whether or not offences are statute-barred before they put victims through a committal and a police investigation," she said. Some witnesses at the state inquiry into child abuse have recommended the statute of limitations no longer apply to civil claims of institutional abuse, which had blocked victims from receiving compensation.