Rape squad rounds up sex attack DVD gang
Police interviewing a group of youths who participated, produced and distributed a graphic DVD showing a teenage girl allegedly being assaulted said today it had become a rape investigation.
Detective Inspector Simon Clemence from the Sex Crimes Squad
said up to 12 boys could be charged.
He said two boys were being investigated in relation to the assault of the girl but had yet to be interviewed. The rape offence involved oral sex, he said.
"At this stage I think it would be fair to say it is a rape and some indecent assaults as well,'' he said.
"We have taken a statement from the girl and she states quite categorically that she was not a willing participant on what occurred on that particular occasion and that confirms the basis of the offence.
"At this stage the primary offence is the sexual offence and that's a serious sexual assault we are investigating.''
He said some of the 12 youths had been identified and he was confident all the perpetrators would be found and interviewed by this afternoon.
"There is still a few yet to be identified and we are asking the public, and we know the material has been circulated at a couple of the schools, if any of the people at those schools know who the people are then they should let us know,'' he said.
The DVD, shot in June, includes footage of the men urinating on the girl, setting her hair alight three times and throwing her top and jacket into the river.
At least two students have been expelled, and another three suspended from schools in the district, as parents, peers and police grapple with what has happened.
Detective Clemence said of the DVD: "It is quite disturbing, very disturbing actually.
"I can tell you I have seen the video and there is no humour in it. The girl is the victim of a serious crime, she's very traumatised, the parents are very traumatised, and anyone who thinks this is a bit of a joke perhaps must have a good look at themselves.
"I would encourage anyone who gets a hold of this material, anyone who sees this material to report it to us and we will do anything in our power to stop it.''
He said camera operators and distributors as well as those participating in the film could face charges.
Child psychologist Dr John Cheetham likened the mob behaviour to the degradation of Jews in World War II.
"It's the sort of behaviour you would expect in a prison camp. It's something like a flashback to the Second World War and the way the Jews were treated," Dr Cheetham told the Nine Network.
Those involved in the attack were likely to be angry, resentful poor achievers who had not developed a set of values.
"Somewhere along the line they have not learned to have a social conscience and to respect the dignity of human beings, he said.
The victim of the sex attack faced a long, hard road to recovery, Dr Cheetham said.
"The shock, the horror, the sense of degradation, would be just horrific and we know from the history of people that have had this sort of stuff imposed on them, is that we do get long-term trauma," he said.
"We get sleeplessness, we get nightmares, we get an unwillingness to socialise, we get an unwillingness to go out of the house.
"Then you have all the emotions of having been violated and you would just feel absolutely horrific."
