Werribee Ruling: It’s Still a Man’s World
Eight Werribee teenagers pleaded guilty today to sex crimes involving a 17-year-old girl. For their plea, the will variously receive ‘rehabilitation’, supervision, and probation. They’re not going to get any jail time because boys will be boys, right?
I mean, all they did was: set her hair on fire three times, urinate on her, throw her clothes into the river, poke her with a stick, drop a lighted cigarette down her pants, and force her to perform oral sex as she pleaded with them. Oh, and also videotape it all and burn it onto DVDs that they then sold for $5 at local schools.
Why should these upstanding young men receive jail time?
Boys point to the girl, calling her “the victim” before laughing mockingly. One boy walks to the lens and declares: “What the f—, she’s the ugliest thing I have ever seen.”
Did I mention she has mild developmental disabilities?
The boys also filmed themselves dropping flares on a homeless man amongst other typical teen behaviors like making chlorine bombs.
Don’t worry, some of their parents knew, and clips were available on YouTube for at least some time.
Sentences get a bit tougher if you’re an adult. A man who kidnapped and raped a woman got a whole eight years for the act, despite his contention that a bite from a funnel-web spider’s what made him do it.
Unfortunately, there are no funnel-webs in Victoria, so the boys couldn’t use that as an excuse.
Good thing they didn’t need one.
Links:
DVD Teens Escape Jail Term [The Age]
Outcry Over Teenage Girl’s Assult Recorded on DVD [The Age]
Spider Bite No Excuse for Rape, Court Says [Yahoo News]
November 5th, 2007 at 9:23 pm
aaaaaaaaahhh!!!
that’s all i can say. that and if i wasn’t so against it in principle, i might become a vigilante.
November 5th, 2007 at 10:10 pm
I went straight for tearing up in the library.
I don’t know enough about the whole ‘the parents were aware’ angle of the story or I’d definitely consider vigilantism.
November 6th, 2007 at 9:17 pm
Um, don’t you two realise that in Australia sexual abuse only happens in Aboriginal communities?
November 6th, 2007 at 9:49 pm
Duh, Sam. But this was done by friendly teens, not horribly neglectful, perpetually-drunken Aboriginal ‘parents’. It’s a little different, though I do understand how you were confused.
Also, she was not a ‘little child’ and, therefore, not ’sacred’. I assume that was the reason behind the lack of jail time.
November 6th, 2007 at 10:30 pm
True. Also the teenage boys of Werribee do not have any control over vast tracks of land full of untapped natural resources, so I guess there is no motivation for intervening in their sky-larking and tom-foolery.
I don’t mean to detract from seriousness of the sickening and horrifying actions of these men, I just can’t help but marvel and wonder at how different the government, media and judicial responses would have been had this taken place in an NT ‘Emergency Intervention’ community. You get the sense that they are on the look out for stories like this up here to justify their actions, and yet it happens in a Melbourne suburb and the crime and punishment (or lack there of) passes without comment.
I wonder if the parents, who laughed it off as a bit of fun, will have half their welfare payments docked? Will their houses be put onto 5 year government leases until they can show that their little darlings are under control? Will they be forced to register their details, including intended place of consumption, when they buy more than $100 worth of alcohol (that is assuming they are still allowed that privilege)? And obviously there is no apparent reason to restrict their access to violent pornography! They are responsible parents after all…
November 6th, 2007 at 10:47 pm
Yes to all those things.
Meanwhile in Melbourne, I’m extremely over my word count. Once again, somehow a 10,000-word essay is being packed into 5,000.
November 7th, 2007 at 8:03 am
Kind of like packing your own blog into someone else’s comments….