Online trolls blame mum

Alleged victim’s mother cops ‘disgusting backlash’

THE mother of the sevenyear-old girl allegedly brutally bashed at a Cairns park has been the target of online trolls blaming her for the shocking attack.

A seven-year-old was bashed and had her head allegedly stomped on by a teenager at a Smithfield park on Sunday.

Bystanders filmed the attack and circulated it online.

The young girl’s horrified mum says she has since received “disgusting backlash” from online trolls blaming her for the attack.

“People were commenting saying it’s all our fault for sending our seven-year-old to a park,” she said.

“They were saying we’re horrible parents for not supervising her and going with her.”

The victim’s mother stressed that people online don’t know the story.

“We’ve been doing it for years and these people online don’t know how close we are to the park, and honestly she’s a kid, they don’t know any of the details,” she said.

“How could it possibly have been our fault she was allegedly assaulted.

“When I was a kid we were all out on the streets.”

Cairns Child Protection and Investigation Unit detectives have charged a 13-year-old girl with one count of assault occasioning bodily harm over the March 26 incident and she will face Cairns Childrens Court at a later date.

The mother said she felt scared to let her children outside of her home.

“We feel like we’re trapped,” she said.

“We are just begging people to stop sharing the video because in all honesty I think everyone has seen it.

“By all means, feel free to have your say and speak up. But the video does not need to be shared anymore.”

The victim’s mother said her daughter was traumatised from the alleged attack.

“My daughter can’t walk past the park anymore,” she said.

“And we are hurting so much, I feel like I can’t even grocery shop without someone adding their opinion or stopping me, or worse … showing that video again.”

It comes as police urge people not to share the video online.

Cairns Child Protection and Investigation Unit OIC Detective Senior Sergeant Michael Gooiker said three young people had been dealt with under the provisions of the justice act in relation to making or distributing child exploitation material.

“Queensland Police are working with the office of the eSafety Commissioner to remove the content in question and the continuing sharing of the material is causing considerable distress to the victim child’s family,” a spokeswoman added.

“We encourage members of the public not to share the video. If you witness an assault, you should report it to police,” she said.

“We also encourage anyone to report serious online abuse to the platform it appears on, to Queensland Police.”