Warning: distressing content.
Two boys, aged 12 and 17, have been permitted to continue attending their private Catholic school in Perth after being accused of separate rape charges.
The devastated mother of a nine-year-old boy, allegedly abused by another child three years his senior, pleads for more government support upon finding out the boy who raped her son, along with another teenage convicted child sex offender, are still able to attend their private school.
According to WA Today, the 12-year-old has been charged with one count of sexual penetration, and is expected to enter a plea.
The victim’s mother tells the publication of her plans now to move from the area after her distress at the lack of government support.
“No-one knows who they are,” she says, adding that the trauma has led her son to be suicidal.
“I’ve told friends of mine to keep their kids away from [the 12-year-old]…. it’s so secret, so quiet what’s happened.
“We have to pack up our whole lives and move away while these people get protected by some stupid law… our lives have fallen apart.”
“I’ve had to find my own private psychologist because my son was going to commit suicide,” the victim’s mother has said.
Last month, a 17-year-old at the same school was sentenced to a one-year intensive youth supervision order in the Perth’s Children’s Court after he was charged with three counts of sexual penetration of a child under 13 and four counts of indecent dealings with a child under 13.
“I am really concerned they are able to return to the school without any protection for the other children,” a concerned parent at the school tells the publication, adding that she believes parents would quickly remove their kids from the classes should they find out about the ongoing situation.
“I’m not saying let’s destroy 17-year-old and 12-year-old children… there’s the potential for rehabilitation – but if the legal system is not putting in place protective measure for other children, something’s wrong with that.
“We feel it has to change at a policy level… the Education Department has a responsibility with convicted sex offenders to remove them from the school.”
The news comes just months after a 12-year-old boy was charged with raping a six-year-old girl at a Northern Beaches primary school.
