Altered Boy

Altered Boy is the story of what happens when your church destroys you, your parents choose the institution over you, and you have to build a life from the wreckage.

Growing up gay in a small Australian country town, in a strict Catholic family, as an altar boy, Lukas’ childhood was already a study in contradictions. Then came the abuse by a priest.

Kicked out by his parents at 19, the early 2000’s became a blur of drugs, failed relationships, and trying to construct an identity when the people who were supposed to protect you handed you over to a predator instead.

But survival isn't the same as healing. And silence isn't the same as peace.

This memoir tracks the journey from victim to witness—testifying at Australia's Royal Commission into Institutional Child Sexual Abuse, taking the fight through the courts, and confronting the reality that justice on paper doesn't undo the damage.

It's about the long process of untangling trauma from identity and ultimately making the hardest call: erasing the parents who chose denial, pretence and shame over their son.

Altered Boy isn't a redemption story. It's not about forgiveness or finding peace through prayer. It's a blueprint for what comes after.

**COMING SOON**