Sex abuse review queries sentences but backs courts
Sean Parnell; 14/6/08
An independent review of recent Cape York sex abuse cases has found no systemic problems with sentencing, but at least one other rape where the offender was freed and should have been jailed. After examining 70 cases, in addition to the controversial Aurukun gang rape that sparked his review, barrister Peter Davis SC found only one other case where he believed the sentence was manifestly inadequate. In that case, a 13-year-old boy who raped a 10-year-old girl in February 2004 was found guilty, had convictions recorded and was sentenced to nine months’ detention but given a conditional release and placed on probation. While Mr Davis found “a period of actual detention was, inmy opinion, the only appropriate sentence”, the deadline for Queensland Attorney-General Kerry Shine to lodge an appeal has long since passed.
See: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23861062-5013404,00.html
No action against Aurukun judge
Tony Koch; 14/6/08
No disciplinary action will be taken against anyone in the Queensland justice system despite two separate reports yesterday slamming the handling of the Aurukun Nine rape case. Queensland’s Court of Appeal yesterday found that Cairns District Court judge Sarah Bradley made several errors of law in not jailing any of the nine males who admitted raping a 10-year-old girl at the Cape York community of Aurukun in 2005. “These errors were so serious as to produce a clear miscarriage of justice,” said Queensland Chief Justice Paul de Jersey. A report by Brisbane barrister Peter Davis SC, which was also released yesterday, found that the prosecution in the Aurukun Nine case was disorganised, ill-prepared and made errors of law.
See: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23861192-5013172,00.html
Shred of good news
Tony Koch; 14/6/08
The single pleasing aspect of the Aurukun Nine case is that the pediatric surgeon who has been treating the victim, now aged 13, reports that she is “doing well”, with restored health, and is living in safety with a family away from the Aurukun community. She is going to school, has made new friends, and is living as “normal” a life as could be expected. Yesterday’s Court of Appeal decision is proper justice in that it gave appropriate sentences containing a deterrent that won’t be missed by Aurukun youth. It tells them, at last, that it is wrong to rape 10-year-old girls. And if you engage in that conduct, you will go to jail for a long time. Pretty simple message, easily understood.
See: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23861063-7583,00.html
Belated justice
Editorial; 14/6/08
Systemic legal problems on Cape York must be fixed Queensland Chief Justice Paul de Jersey and the Court of Appeal yesterday repaired what all right-thinking people recognised as an appalling miscarriage of justice. In imposing custodial sentences on five of the nine males who raped a 10-year-old girl at the Cape York community of Aurukun in 2006, the court sent a clear message that rape - anywhere, at any time and in any culture - is an abominable crime that warrants severe punishment. Three men, aged 25, 18 and 17 at the time of the rape, received six-year sentences. They will be eligible for parole in June 2010. One boy, aged 14 at the time of the offence, was detained for three years and another, aged 13 at the time, was detained for two years. All six juveniles involved had convictions recorded. These sentences close a shameful chapter in Australia’s legal history that was remedied only after it was exposed in December last year by The Australian’s Tony Koch. In his first report, Koch revealed that Cairns District Court judge Sarah Bradley had allowed all nine offenders to walk free after they had pleaded guilty.
See: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23859846-16382,00.html
Girls aged 6, 9 and 11 assaulted in NT
13/6/08; http://news.theage.com.au/national/girls-aged-6-9-and-11-assaulted-in-nt-20080613-2q3e.html
A man has been charged with indecently assaulting three girls aged between six and 11 at a remote Aboriginal community in the Northern Territory. The 24-year-old was arrested by detectives from the Child Abuse Taskforce on Thursday, police said.It is alleged he assaulted the three girls, aged six, nine and 11, on two occasions in December last year. The man has been charged with two counts of indecent acts upon a child under 16, one count of an indecent act on a child under 10 and three counts of aggravated assault. He was remanded in custody to appear in the Darwin Magistrate’s Court on June 23.
Tags: Aboriginal, Australia, Sex Trade