Girl, 14, tortured at party

THREE men subjected a 14year-old girl to hours of “vile”, “degrading” and “demeaning” torture at a house party, a court has been told.

The girl was punched, slapped, had “smileys” burnt into her by a cigarette lighter, had part of her hair shaved and was bullied. She was also offered to other men for sex.

Ben Costin, 21, was yesterday sentenced in the Southport District Court to two and half years in prison.

His sentence was suspended and he was released yesterday after spending 357 days in pre-sentence custody.

His release comes despite the girl’s mother saying in a victim impact statement that “no sentence would be large enough in my eyes”.

Costin pleaded guilty to unlawful carnal knowledge of a child under 16, two counts of assault occasioning bodily harm and one count of com- mon assault. Judge Julie Dick she understood why the young girl had “reacted”.

“You were vile frankly,” she said.

“She was a 14-year-old girl. “The demeaning and degrading way you behaved towards her was unspeakable.”

Crown prosecutor Natalie Lima told the court Costin was having consensual sex with the girl at a house party on the southern Gold Coast on March 31 last year when one of his friends asked to join in.

Ms Lima said Costin refused but told the other man he could be next. She said it was then the bullying began. Costin’s two co-accused are still before the courts.

Costin’s barrister Bernard Reilly, instructed by Bamberry Lawyers, said a psychological exam had found Costin “functioned below average” and had a “borderline level for working memory”.

Mr Rielly said Costin, unemployed at the time, also had a problem with the drug ice.