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NOTE: The following post is a quote:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1921355/posts

Boys walk free over DVD sex assault [Australia]
The West Australian ^ | 5th November 2007 | anon

Posted on 11/05/2007 2:29:05 PM PST by BlackVeil

Eight Victorian teenage boys who took part in the filming of a sexual assault on a 17-year-old girl have avoided youth detention.

The girl was filmed performing oral sex on two boys, had her hair set alight, was spat at and urinated on during the incident at a park at Werribee, in Melbourne’s outer-west, in June last year.

At a Children’s Court on Monday, a judge told the boys they treated the victim in a cruel and callous manner and described their behaviour as cowardly and brutal.

“It was a sustained attack by a pack of young men upon a vulnerable young woman,” he said.

He ordered all the boys - aged between 15 and 17 at the time of offending - to participate in a rehabilitation program for male adolescents about positive sexuality.

All except one of the boys had convictions recorded against them. The judge placed six of the boys on youth supervision orders for between 12 and 18 months and two of the boys were placed on probation for 12 months.

He said that if it was not for their guilty pleas and willingness to participate in rehabilitation they would have been at “significant risk” of serving time in youth detention.

Each of the boys had previously pleaded guilty to procuring sexual penetration by intimidation, making child pornography and assault.

The judge said he also took into account they had no prior convictions and their youth.

A DVD of the attack - which was titled ‘C**t the Movie’ - was distributed throughout the community, the court heard.

The 16-year-old who filmed the DVD and the two youths - both 17 - who were involved in the sexual assault each received 18-month youth supervision orders and had convictions recorded against them.

A 16-year-old boy was the only youth to avoid a conviction and was placed on a 12-month probation order after the judge found he did not directly engage in the sexual or physical assaults and had good insight into his offending.

The judge said the victim had organised to meet two of the boys at a Werribee train station on the day of the attack and had no idea a group of at least 11 boys was meeting her there.

He said the girl sustained significant emotional and psychological trauma from the incident and this was compounded by the filming and distribution of the DVD.

The judge said placing the boys in a rehabilitation program was not the “easy option”.

He said the program would involve the boys and their families engaging in individually tailored treatment over about nine months.

The program was very successful in protecting the community, changing sexual offenders’ attitudes and behaviour and ensuring they did not reoffend, he said.

The maximum penalty for the offences is three years in youth detention.

No parties involved in a Children’s Court hearing can be identified.