The picture shows some school kids changing venue at a school. An Idyllic scene.
Not shown is the now 12 year old girl, who was the center of a storm over the failure which led to her rape by many, over a sustained period of time.
Born with fetal alcohol syndrome, she was raped by her father, aged 5. She has been in over 40 foster care homes since. She was raped by many when she was 7, and placed in foster care in a different neighborhood, where the foster carer dad took a year off work to attend solely to her.
Sadly the stolen generation myth resulted in her being removed from healthy care, and returned to the toxic environment where she was raped again at age 10. The nine rapists were not given a jail term as the 10 year old had 'given her consent' and so the prosecutor did not ask for a custodial sentence.
Meanwhile, the state government (ALP) made the claim to the federal government (then conservative) that there were no problems with local community. A clear lie.
Now, this girl aged 12 is supervised 24/7 by six carers at the cost of two million dollars a year. She has no contact with strangers her own age. She is violent and her behavior criminal.
A pediatrician who has treated the girl since she was very young maintains he believes she could be rehabilitated, so long as the appropriate measures are taken now.
"My experience is the older the kids are the less likely you are to turn them around."
Really? They have experienced some successes?
Gang rape victim left broken and betrayed
ReplyDeletePeter Michael
AT the age of 12 every child should have the right to be happy. But for one Queensland child - the victim of the Aurukun rape case that has made international headlines - life is just four walls and the same seven faces.
Held alone in a safe house near Cairns with little outside contact, the girl - born with fetal alcohol syndrome - is violent, rebellious and angry at the world.
Since being raped by nine males at age 10, she has racked up 70 criminal charges including violent assault, and has been diagnosed as having the mental age of a six-year-old.
But she is simply the face of the children of the damned - just a symbol of the wretched existence of dysfunctional indigenous communities of Cape York.
Indigenous mental health specialist Ernest Hunter said such a descent into violent criminal behaviour was typical for such a badly damaged victim. And she is not the only one.
"This is a major shame for Australia," Professor Hunter said. "But I don't think the Government has the resources or the political will to address the devastating tragedy that is the Cape."
Australian Psychological Society president-elect Bob Montgomery says: "Everyone should hang their heads in shame."
District Court Judge Sarah Bradley and Department of Public Prosecutions senior legal officer Steve Carter sparked international outrage late last year when, in court, they said the young girl - who is below the age of consent - "probably agreed to sex".
Mr Carter did not seek a custodial sentence for any of the six boys and three men who pleaded guilty to raping the girl.
It costs taxpayers about $2 million a year to care for the Aurukun rape victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons but is referred to as K.
A rotating team of seven carers watches her 24 hours a day at a safe house near Cairns where she lives alone, isolated except for a rare supervised visit from extended family; undergoing extensive medical and psychological treatment.
Born in 1995 with fetal alcohol syndrome, she was raped by her father before she was five and taken into foster care for what was to be the first of 40 different homes due to her unruly nature.
She was back in Aurukun by age seven where she was raped by up to five youths, suffering severe genital trauma.
In May 2005, back in Aurukun for a six-week period, the "highly sexualised girl" was allegedly touting for sex - the only way she could get attention - and was repeatedly sexually abused by the males who last year faced court for their crimes.
Six months ago, K tried to strangle one of her carers by wrapping an electrical cord around her throat. She spat on the carer's face and in her food, kicking the female helper to the ground before then trying to throttle her.
Under court orders, K - who stands tall and is lean and strongly-built with a shock of unkempt hair - was released into home detention under the supervision of the Department of Child Safety.
The Gold-Coast-based Professor Montgomery said K's descent into violent criminal behaviour and lust for sex was typical for such a badly damaged victim.
"She is acting out in totally unacceptable ways; the only way she gets adult attention is to make herself sexually available," Professor Montgomery said. "Sure the treatment is expensive but, because society failed her, maybe society owes it to her."
A pediatrician who has treated the girl since she was very young maintains he believes she could be rehabilitated, so long as the appropriate measures are taken now.
"My experience is the older the kids are the less likely you are to turn them around."