A 13-year-old girl has been “rescued” from two years of alleged sexual abuse at the hands of her father and his friends after someone tipped off Western Australian police.
Detective superintendent Glenn Feeney, from the sex crime division, said the girl was repeatedly raped by eight men, including her father, for two years from the age of 11 until the intervention by police and child protection services earlier this year.
The last of the men were arrested last week.
As a group they are facing 503 charges, including a number of counts of the sexual penetration of a child under 13 years, indecent dealing with a child under 13 years, and distribution of child exploitation material. The bulk of the charges – 383 – relate to filming or recording the girl, and 40 charges allege sexual penetration.
Two of the men are also facing charges of stupefying in order to commit an indictable offence. Feeney would not go into the detail of the charges, which are now before the court, but he said that charge meant feeding a victim drugs or alcohol or otherwise “stupefying” them so they are unable to give consent, adding, “of course, a child can’t give consent”.
The girl’s father is also facing charges of sexual servitude. Asked if that meant the accused was alleged to have “shared” his daughter with his friends, as well as abused her himself, Feeney said, “correct”.
Feeney said police began a “rapid” investigation in April, after they received a tip-off about the girl’s situation.
“Our priority in this instance was first to ensure the safety of the victim; we needed to make sure she was safe,” he said.
“The child was still in a situation where, had we not known, had we not been informed, this could have continued.”
Feeney said the girl was “physically OK” when first seen by police, but “psychologically, I can’t answer.”
The alleged abuse happened at the girl’s home. Feeney said she wasn’t “trapped,” but her removal nevertheless constituted a rescue. He declined to comment when asked if the girl’s mother had known about the abuse.
“She was rescued from this horrible situation she was in,” he said. “She is safe and she is receiving the care that she needs, and that will continue,” he said.
Feeney said computers and electronic devices seized when the men were arrested contained an abundance of child exploitation material, which would be analysed to see if it can lead to any further charges.
“Just to give you an idea of the scale, from one of the persons charged there were 200,000 videos and four million images,” he said. “And that’s one person.”
Among the files seized from all men were 149 child abuse photos and videos of the victim.
The men who were charged were aged between 35 and 47 years old. They are described by police as friends of the girl’s father, and Feeney said none worked in jobs where they would have had contact with children.
He would not comment on the nature of the friendship, and said he was not aware that they had paid to abuse the girl. The only thing apparently linking them was the girl’s father.
“It will be alleged in the courts that each of the other offenders knew the father [and that] it was facilitated by the father,” Feeney said.
The girl’s father is facing 228 of the charges, including 172 child abuse charges, six counts of sexual servitude, and 16 counts of rape. He is scheduled to appear in Perth magistrates court in August.
The particulars of the father and the location that the abuse took place have not been released in order to protect the girls identity. The other men come from outlying suburbs of Perth, and from South Bunbury, a two hour drive away.
Feeney said the “tragic” case was an urgent reminder for anyone who knew of child abuse, including the victims, to report it.
“Children often find it difficult to tell, but police are available 24/7. Whether it be through Crimestoppers, or anyone that they know and trust, get that information to us.”
He said he could not be sure the men would have stopped the alleged abuse of the girl had they not been charged.
“If the child had been in this position for the last two years … I am not a betting man but I would not expect the abuse not to continue.” he said.
Two of the men are scheduled to face court this week. The rest will face court on separate days in August.
