The Children’s Court on Thursday sentenced the boy,who was 16 at the time of the rape in late 2019,to nine months in jail,with a non-parole period of two months. He was found guilty in May of six counts of sexual intercourse without consent and one of intentionally choking without permission.
This girl was raped by her schoolmate,who was found guilty in the children’s court. He and his family insist he did nothing wrong.Wolter Peeters
After the sentencing,the family’s lawyer,Michael Bradley,read a statement from the victim,saying the attack took her confidence,her mental health and “the happy life I led before the attack”.
But “what angers me is that this should not have happened. Before I was raped,my father wrote to the school,demanding that the police speak to and warn the boy. The school agreed to do that,but they failed to follow through.”
She is getting legal advice about taking legal action against the department and the school,which is in greater Sydney,she said. The girl also called on the department to release the findings of an internal investigation into the handling of the incident.
The girl accused the school of failing to protect her. “I can only assume that the department wants to cover up what happened at[the school]. What happened to me is happening to far too many girls in Australia.
“The untold number of rapes and attacks on Australia’s schoolgirls needs to stop.”
At a sentencing hearing earlier this month,the court heard an initially consensual act between two students became non-consensual and involved multiple violations. The perpetrator failed to express remorse and has continued to stick by his not guilty plea.
In a victim impact statement,the girl said the rape - which lasted for two hours at a weekend party in late November 2019 - had left her ashamed and irreversibly damaged.
His lawyer argued for a non-custodial sentence,saying the boy had a job,a steady girlfriend,and no signs of psychopathology or pre-existing personality disorders. He wanted to study music and go into the air force.
The family’s lawyer Michael Bradley speaks outside court on Thursday.AAP
However,at the sentencing on Thursday,the magistrate said the boy had not expressed contrition. She believed he took advantage of the girl.
“In effect in his evidence he placed responsibility for what occurred that night on her,” she said.
A department spokesman acknowledged the family’s trauma,and extended its sympathy. “The school reported the sexual assault to NSW Police on the same day it was made aware of it,” he said. The police investigated the matter.
“In any instances like this we work closely with police and relevant authorities but note we have no power to compel students to engage with police,” he said. An internal investigation was held but privacy laws prevented its public release.
“If the family decides to proceed with legal action against the NSW Department of Education,we will provide any relevant documents required to be produced as part of that claim,” it said.
The victim’s family also wants the NSW Department of Education to re-think the way it treats male students charged with sexual assault in its schools. At present,he is allowed to come back to the same school,under a plan to separate the students.
The alleged perpetrator should be taught via Zoom until the end of their trial,the family said in a statement,and if they are found guilty they should never be allowed to come back to the same school as their victim.
It also wants principals to have access to a database of offenders or alleged offenders,so that if accused or convicted students move to another school,they can take steps to protect the other students. “Victims of sex assault deserve better support and care in our schools,” the girl’s father said.
In response to this case,and a similar one also revealed by theHerald,Education Minister Sarah Mitchell in May ordered the NSW Department of Education to review international evidence for best practice in managing situations in which victims of crime attend the same school as their attackers.
This story was updated to clarify that the sentence is nine months,with two months’ non-parole.
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