Raped at skate park
Teen gets six months for assaulting girl, 13
A 13-YEAR-OLD girl who endured a horrific ordeal by a teen was left lying on the floor of a public bathroom, a court has heard.
Her attacker will be free in six months and has avoided a conviction.
The girl, drunk at the Esplanade skate park, was approached by a 15-year-old boy at sundown in early August last year.
“Knowing that the 13-yearold girl was heavily intoxicated, you started kissing her,” Judge Dean Morzone said.
Cairns District Court heard the boy then took her to a public toilet and raped her “while she cried and asked you to stop”.
The girl was raped for 15 minutes, during which time she collapsed twice.
Her rapist left her lying on the floor.
“You left it to others to help her,” Judge Morzone said.
“You took advantage of her vulnerable state; it was protracted and you were able to control her while she was unable to defend herself.”
The court heard the accused teen had no recollection of the rape.
“While he can’t or won’t talk about the offending … he did not demonstrate immediate remorse,” crown prosecutor Nathan Crane said.
“There is the violence of the rape … but also the disregard for the complainant.”
A pre-sentence report to the court stated the accused youth, who was lacking positive male role models, had a substance abuse problem from an early age.
Josh Trevino, defending, said his client had “a reduced capacity for reasoned thinking”.
“It is no surprise that he has no recollection,” Mr Trevino said.
“He was clearly influenced by the peer group.”
He told the court the accused displayed characteristics of Asperger’s syndrome.
The youth pleaded guilty to the rape and was sentenced under the Youth Justice Act.
Under the Act’s charter of principles, “a child should be detained in custody for an offence … only as a last resort and for the least time that is justified”.
Judge Morzone took into account the youth’s “chaotic” childhood and sentenced him to six months in detention followed by 12 months of probation.