Boy, 5, ‘gang-raped by group of children on remote Australian beach’ as victim is left with horror injuries
A FIVE-year-old boy is said to have been gang raped by a group of kids all under the age of 13.
The brutal attack is claimed to have taken place on a remote beach in northern Queensland, Australia.
The alleged assault was so horrific the youngster needed emergency medical treatment and was airlifted to Cairns Hospital, nearly 500 miles away.
Police say the attack took place at Napranum, on the north-west coast of Cape York in Queensland on July 1.
Three boys, aged between 10 and 13, have been accused of the attack.
A Queensland Police spokesperson said three boys will be dealt with under the provisions of the Youth Justice Act.
Members of the community say the shocking allegations have torn several families apart and reopened wounds from a sex crime that occurred 15 years earlier.
A source told : “There are big arguments about how this happened.
“It is creating big problems in the town. It is not the first time something like this has happened.”
In 2006 a 10-year-old girl was gang raped by nine men aged between 13 and 25 in Aurukun, 25 miles south of Napranum.
The girl is said to have suffered from a mild intellectual disability and had an alcoholic mother.
Even though the men all pleaded guilty to numerous sexual offences, the judge spared the perpetrators jail time, saying the victim “probably agreed” to have sex with them.
She also ruled the men were also victims themselves having grown up deprived and subjected to physical and sexual abuse at the hands of others in their community.
Fury was sparked across Australia when no convictions were recorded in the horrifying case.
At the time Prime Minster Kevin Rudd expressed his anger at the court's decision.
Mr Rudd said: “I'm disgusted and appalled by the reports that I've seen in today's newspapers on this case.
“My attitude of violence towards women and children, including sexual violence towards women and children, is one of zero tolerance.”
Under Australian law, police can use their discretion in determining how they proceed with any possible prosecution due to the young age of the alleged offenders.
Ten is the age an offender can be found guilty of a crime, but if a child under 13 commits an offence police can issue a caution.
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Another possibility is restorative justice - a tactic said to be commonly used in Indigenous communities - which usually involves extensive counselling, a mediated meeting with the victim's family and an apology to the victim.
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In March this year a 27-year-old man was jailed for 13 years after he raped a two-year-old girl in Tennant Creek while her mum was sleeping.
The toddler suffered severe internal injuries in the 2018 attack and had to be flown to an Adelaide hospital where she underwent a blood transfusion.
