Abused boy `left to rape other kids'
25.01.2008
AN Aboriginal boy, who turns 10 today and is under investigation for allegedly raping a six-year-old boy last month, had been left in the Cape York community of Kowanyama despite the Department of Child Safety knowing he was an abuse victim who had gone on to abuse others.
In a graphic example of the cycle of sexual abuse in Aboriginal communities, the department was told two years ago the boy was deeply troubled and had sexually penetrated a four-year-old boy.
Departmental officers were furious that children who had been victims of sexual and physical assault and were living in dysfunctional situations on remote communities were not taken away to ensure their safety.
Disquiet about the department's treatment of Aboriginal child victims arose last month when The Australian revealed a 10-year-old intellectually impaired girl had been gang-raped by nine youths and men on Aurukun community on Cape York. The rapists pleaded guilty but none was jailed.
The Australian revealed on Tuesday that six pre-teen and teenage boys in Kowanyama had been interviewed by police regarding allegations they had been involved in serially raping boys.
According to the departmental documents, obtained by The Australia, the boy whose birthday is today was so disturbed that as a six-year old he threatened suicide, saying: ``If I stab myself, my father will be happy.''
His father was in jail at the time.
The file noted that, in 2001, the then three-year-old's mother ``drinks from Thursday to Saturday every week and ... the child is left wandering around the community on his own''.
The report said another woman looked after the boy for 11 months of that year without financial support from his family.
The file said the mother did not take the three-year-old to play group to help his development and when he was sick she refused to take him to the health clinic, opting to ``visit the tribal elders to heal the child, who often has a cold and ear problems''.
The March 5, 2001, file note said the woman caring for the child found him playing in the street, ``sitting in a muddy puddle of water at 7.30pm alone, vomiting and with a high temperature''.
The department instigated ``case management'' and ``extended family agreed to support the mother in meeting the child's protective needs''.
On September 3, 2004, the file noted that the then six-year-old had become depressed and withdrawn and reported that he wanted to commit suicide. It said he had ``a lot of emotional issues'' and that during a relative's funeral he had a wire and wanted to hang himself with it.
On receipt of that information, the department put him on a temporary care order with another person, and that was extended for a year. He was referred to mental health doctors.
On December 4, 2004, the boy gave two fresh buns to his cousin. A witness told how his woman carer hit the boy three times across the back with a piece of hose. When he fell down, she kicked him in the head and back. The boy's aunt intervened to stop the assault.
He was removed from that carer and put with another in Kowanyama. On June 16, 2005, there was a report that he ``put his penis'' into a four-year-old boy. His aunt told the department that the boy ``does this sort of thing all the time and that he had been raped''.
He was again referred to mental health doctors, and on November 19, 2005, his care order lapsed.
The file noted that an assessment was made that the mother ``had addressed the protective needs of the child and that reunification was appropriate'', so he was returned to her care in Kowanyama.
On December 28 last year, an allegation was made that the boy sexually abused his six-year-old male cousin at his mother's home.
The department file said the ``assessment'' was still continuing and that the child ``needs to live in a home environment free of alcohol and drug misuse''.
