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http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/ne...l/news-story/e02c19badc6924b741425d108c074e56
Panther Bryce Cartwright abortion pay-off: ‘Middle man’ brokered $50,000 deal
SARAH BLAKE, The Sunday Telegraph
March 5, 2017 9:14am
A RUGBY league “fixer” was called in to negotiate a $50,000 abortion deal after a star player’s girlfriend revealed she was pregnant.
The 24-year-old former girlfriend of Penrith Panthers second-rower Bryce Cartwright, who has asked to be identified only as Miss X, had the procedure in November because she felt Cartwright and club intermediary Lou Zivanovic left her no other choice.
She has since given the money to charity.
A contract obtained by The Sunday Telegraph reveals the extraordinary lengths the Panthers and Cartwright’s supporters were willing to go to to safeguard his reputation and future prospects.
The story of Miss X’s pregnancy has been bubbling along on social media for several months and led to another former partner of Cartwright, Brittany Hura, being charged with threatening him in a “revenge porn” attack late last year after she learned both women had been dating him at the same time.
It’s an explosive story of sex, fame, ambition and money in sport, but at its centre is a traumatised young Sydney woman who is still receiving grief counselling.
Contract details between Bryce Cartwright and Miss X.
She has today decided to tell her story to stop “this awful bullying” happening to anyone else. She said she had no desire to hurt Cartwright.
The pair dated for several months from April but broke up when she fell pregnant.
Miss X said neither woman knew the other was involved with Cartwright.
Miss X said she regretted giving in to Cartwright and former Panthers player Mr Zivanovic, a club life member and fundraiser, who also tried to persuade her to sign a “hush hush” confidentiality agreement, which she refused.
“I felt I had no other option than to get rid of the baby, the pressure was relentless,” she said. “I was bullied by Bryce and Lou. They showed no compassion towards the baby and me.”
Miss X said at one point she asked Mr Zivanovic why he was badgering her with text messages to sign the contract.
“He said ‘look this is not a personal thing; I have known Bryce for 15 years’. I said, ‘You must be a family friend or an uncle’ and he said ‘No, this is really a business thing,’” she said.
“It’s actually about rugby league more than anything else.”
A text message from Miss X to Cartwright.
In one SMS exchange, Mr Zivanovic told Miss X: “I really don’t feel there is a reason why we need to meet, putting aside the $$$$, you have one of two choices, which one?”
In another exchange Mr Zivanovic questioned why Cartwright should pay her legal fees. She replied: “Because he introduced a representative when I was already 16 weeks and left it all to the last minute.
“Bryce lied and misled me from the beginning and said no one else was involved, so really he put me in a position where I had to get a lawyer involved.”
Mr Zivanovic said he would discuss it with Cartwright “in the morning”.
He negotiated the contract with a solicitor employed by Miss X and it was signed by Cartwright and witnessed by the chief financial officer of Mr Zivanovic’s property development company Bradley Weston.
An exchange between the pair.
The contract says: “(Miss X) and Bryce engaged in a relationship in August, 2016, which resulted in (Miss X) conceiving a child.” It goes on to state that the pair agreed to terminate the pregnancy for a payment of $50,000.
“Bryce will deposit the settlement sum into (Miss X’s) solicitor’s trust account within 24 hours of execution of this deed by the parties,” it says. “Once (Miss X) has received the settlement sum she will terminate the pregnancy forthwith.”
Miss X said she was willing to be a single mother and that she and Cartwright were dealing amicably with each other. She believed he was supportive of her decision to raise her child alone.
A text exchange between Lou Zivanovic and Miss X.
“From the start he said he didn’t want to be a father, or to have anything to do with the baby and I respected that and thought I would do it alone,” she said.
SMS messages between them reveal her agony as she faced the reality of choosing between the abortion or proceeding with the pregnancy.
In one exchange, Cartwright texted her: “Would you honestly do it on your own?” She replied: “If that’s how you feel and I decide to keep it then yes.”
He wrote: “OK, then well at least you know how I feel now. I’ll give you a few days to think.”
In another exchange he wrote: “You do realise there’s no way I’ll be at the birth?”
Miss X: “Yes, I know. I thought about it. And that’s up to you.”
A text exchange between Lou Zivanovic and Miss X.
Cartwright: “And we won’t keep in contact at all.”
Miss X: “OK. That’s your decision.”
But when she asked him for details of his family medical history at the suggestion of her doctor, he withdrew.
She said: “Bryce was trying to keep the pregnancy a secret from his family. I kept insisting that they had a right to know and he kept pushing the conversation.
“I took matters into my own hands and informed his parents about what was going on. It was then, after speaking to his mother, that I found out he was in a long-term relationship with his now-exgirlfriend Brittany Hura.
“Bryce was living this double life that his family and club were aware of, but his girlfriends had no idea about.”
She said Cartwright blocked her from his social media and stopped taking her calls, insisting she only talk to him through Mr Zivanovic.
“I felt like the girl they had thrown away,” she said. “Lou made it very clear to me that if I kept the baby I could expect only minimal support from Bryce. I have to travel overseas for my work. I was basically boxed into a corner, it kept going on and on.
“I don’t believe in abortion, that’s what I have said the whole time. I told Bryce and then Lou again and again that I understood his feelings, but that we had to find some way to meet in the middle because even though he didn’t want a baby, I didn’t want to get rid of the baby.”
She also wrote a letter of complaint to the club but “have yet to hear back”.
Miss X said: “The NRL needs to investigate and take all matters of this nature seriously and not allow these ‘stars’ to think that just because of their status, they can get away with things like this.
“Are these the type of role models that the NRL are proud of and parade around for future generations to look up to? Up until today I have still not gotten any apology from Bryce, Lou or the club.”
Miss X said she finally agreed to the termination because she lost confidence she would be able to support herself and a child.
“I was full of regret and wish that I had never taken the money. That’s why I gave it (the money) all away. That was the only blessing that came out of this.”
Cartwright and Mr Zivanovic have declined to comment.................
Panther Bryce Cartwright abortion pay-off: ‘Middle man’ brokered $50,000 deal
SARAH BLAKE, The Sunday Telegraph
March 5, 2017 9:14am
A RUGBY league “fixer” was called in to negotiate a $50,000 abortion deal after a star player’s girlfriend revealed she was pregnant.
The 24-year-old former girlfriend of Penrith Panthers second-rower Bryce Cartwright, who has asked to be identified only as Miss X, had the procedure in November because she felt Cartwright and club intermediary Lou Zivanovic left her no other choice.
She has since given the money to charity.
A contract obtained by The Sunday Telegraph reveals the extraordinary lengths the Panthers and Cartwright’s supporters were willing to go to to safeguard his reputation and future prospects.
The story of Miss X’s pregnancy has been bubbling along on social media for several months and led to another former partner of Cartwright, Brittany Hura, being charged with threatening him in a “revenge porn” attack late last year after she learned both women had been dating him at the same time.
It’s an explosive story of sex, fame, ambition and money in sport, but at its centre is a traumatised young Sydney woman who is still receiving grief counselling.
Contract details between Bryce Cartwright and Miss X.
She has today decided to tell her story to stop “this awful bullying” happening to anyone else. She said she had no desire to hurt Cartwright.
The pair dated for several months from April but broke up when she fell pregnant.
Miss X said neither woman knew the other was involved with Cartwright.
Miss X said she regretted giving in to Cartwright and former Panthers player Mr Zivanovic, a club life member and fundraiser, who also tried to persuade her to sign a “hush hush” confidentiality agreement, which she refused.
“I felt I had no other option than to get rid of the baby, the pressure was relentless,” she said. “I was bullied by Bryce and Lou. They showed no compassion towards the baby and me.”
Miss X said at one point she asked Mr Zivanovic why he was badgering her with text messages to sign the contract.
“He said ‘look this is not a personal thing; I have known Bryce for 15 years’. I said, ‘You must be a family friend or an uncle’ and he said ‘No, this is really a business thing,’” she said.
“It’s actually about rugby league more than anything else.”
A text message from Miss X to Cartwright.
In one SMS exchange, Mr Zivanovic told Miss X: “I really don’t feel there is a reason why we need to meet, putting aside the $$$$, you have one of two choices, which one?”
In another exchange Mr Zivanovic questioned why Cartwright should pay her legal fees. She replied: “Because he introduced a representative when I was already 16 weeks and left it all to the last minute.
“Bryce lied and misled me from the beginning and said no one else was involved, so really he put me in a position where I had to get a lawyer involved.”
Mr Zivanovic said he would discuss it with Cartwright “in the morning”.
He negotiated the contract with a solicitor employed by Miss X and it was signed by Cartwright and witnessed by the chief financial officer of Mr Zivanovic’s property development company Bradley Weston.
An exchange between the pair.
The contract says: “(Miss X) and Bryce engaged in a relationship in August, 2016, which resulted in (Miss X) conceiving a child.” It goes on to state that the pair agreed to terminate the pregnancy for a payment of $50,000.
“Bryce will deposit the settlement sum into (Miss X’s) solicitor’s trust account within 24 hours of execution of this deed by the parties,” it says. “Once (Miss X) has received the settlement sum she will terminate the pregnancy forthwith.”
Miss X said she was willing to be a single mother and that she and Cartwright were dealing amicably with each other. She believed he was supportive of her decision to raise her child alone.
A text exchange between Lou Zivanovic and Miss X.
“From the start he said he didn’t want to be a father, or to have anything to do with the baby and I respected that and thought I would do it alone,” she said.
SMS messages between them reveal her agony as she faced the reality of choosing between the abortion or proceeding with the pregnancy.
In one exchange, Cartwright texted her: “Would you honestly do it on your own?” She replied: “If that’s how you feel and I decide to keep it then yes.”
He wrote: “OK, then well at least you know how I feel now. I’ll give you a few days to think.”
In another exchange he wrote: “You do realise there’s no way I’ll be at the birth?”
Miss X: “Yes, I know. I thought about it. And that’s up to you.”
A text exchange between Lou Zivanovic and Miss X.
Cartwright: “And we won’t keep in contact at all.”
Miss X: “OK. That’s your decision.”
But when she asked him for details of his family medical history at the suggestion of her doctor, he withdrew.
She said: “Bryce was trying to keep the pregnancy a secret from his family. I kept insisting that they had a right to know and he kept pushing the conversation.
“I took matters into my own hands and informed his parents about what was going on. It was then, after speaking to his mother, that I found out he was in a long-term relationship with his now-exgirlfriend Brittany Hura.
“Bryce was living this double life that his family and club were aware of, but his girlfriends had no idea about.”
She said Cartwright blocked her from his social media and stopped taking her calls, insisting she only talk to him through Mr Zivanovic.
“I felt like the girl they had thrown away,” she said. “Lou made it very clear to me that if I kept the baby I could expect only minimal support from Bryce. I have to travel overseas for my work. I was basically boxed into a corner, it kept going on and on.
“I don’t believe in abortion, that’s what I have said the whole time. I told Bryce and then Lou again and again that I understood his feelings, but that we had to find some way to meet in the middle because even though he didn’t want a baby, I didn’t want to get rid of the baby.”
She also wrote a letter of complaint to the club but “have yet to hear back”.
Miss X said: “The NRL needs to investigate and take all matters of this nature seriously and not allow these ‘stars’ to think that just because of their status, they can get away with things like this.
“Are these the type of role models that the NRL are proud of and parade around for future generations to look up to? Up until today I have still not gotten any apology from Bryce, Lou or the club.”
Miss X said she finally agreed to the termination because she lost confidence she would be able to support herself and a child.
“I was full of regret and wish that I had never taken the money. That’s why I gave it (the money) all away. That was the only blessing that came out of this.”
Cartwright and Mr Zivanovic have declined to comment.................
