[media]A teenage boy has been charged with sexual assault following an alleged gang rape in western Sydney.
A 14-year-old girl was walking home from her friend's house on Saturday night when she was attacked in a park at Doonside in Sydney's west.
Police allege the 16-year-old approached the girl in Bill Colbourne Park at 11pm, forced her to the ground and sexually assaulted her.
The teen‘s five friends then allegedly took turns in an assault lasting 30 minutes.
Police confirmed on Thursday night a 16-year-old had presented himself to Blacktown police station.
He was charged with one count of sexual assault.
The teen was refused bail to appear in court on Friday.
The alleged victim's mother last night told The Daily Telegraph she was "happy" at the news of an arrest.
"I am relieved and happy and I hope the police find the rest of them soon ... by the weekend," she was quoted as saying.
The girl has been too traumatised to go to school this week, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.
On Wednesday, her cousin took her to Bondi to help take her mind off the incident.
Last night's arrest came as police and African and Pacific Islander community leaders took part in a unity walk through Blacktown on Thursday night.
With social media feeding fears of reprisals there were concerns racial tensions would boil over between two ethnic groups.
The victim is believed to have a Pacific Islander background while the alleged offenders are described as African in appearance.
Asked about reported social media comments signalling reprisal violence, Blacktown police Superintendent Gary Merryweather confirmed on Thursday police were keeping an eye on it.
"There is a lot of hearsay conversations running around through electronic communications that happen these days," he told AAP.
"Police are aware, we can't say we are aware of everything, but we are being vigilant in that area."
Police were also increasing patrols in Blacktown, Doonside and on trains, he added.
Supt Merryweather said everyone was upset about the attack and the tensions existed because of "the crime not because of the race".
Sudanese community figure John Kon said he was not aware of any tensions, except on social media.
"...in the way this issue has been publicised on Facebook and other social media," he said.
"It has been divided into an African and Pacific Islander's problem but we as a community don't have such a problem.
"Criminal are criminals and have to be treated as criminals."
The gang rape occurred while the 14-year-old was walking home from a friend's house through Bill Colbourne Reserve just before midnight.
Supt Merryweather said the victim was very traumatised and was being supported by family and friends.[/media]
Not that this makes what happend ok or make it the girls fault BUT what was a 14 year old girl doing walking around in the middle of the night in a well know dodgy area?
Not that this makes what happend ok or make it the girls fault BUT what was a 14 year old girl doing walking around in the middle of the night in a well know dodgy area?
A terrible crime committed against a young girl. I hope that the court will apply a sentence that fits the crime.
My apologies Rossoneri, but I don't agree with the header of this thread, the thread yes, the header nope..
Maybe I'm being overly sensitive, but the girl is also a teenager, and doesn't deserve to be put in with the perpetrators of this crime, perhaps it could say 'WTF is wrong with some teenagers'.
Not that this makes what happend ok or make it the girls fault BUT what was a 14 year old girl doing walking around in the middle of the night in a well know dodgy area?
I understand what you are asking and it is a sad reflection of our modern world that they cannot just walk home from their friends without being assaulted. Age is not the issue, I imagine they would have done this to any woman who was walking alone.
A terrible crime committed against a young girl. I hope that the court will apply a sentence that fits the crime.
My apologies Rossoneri, but I don't agree with the header of this thread, the thread yes, the header nope..
Maybe I'm being overly sensitive, but the girl is also a teenager, and doesn't deserve to be put in with the perpetrators of this crime, perhaps it could say 'WTF is wrong with some teenagers'.
Yep that's fair. However I can't seem to modify the thread title. Maybe the mods can do it?
Not that this makes what happend ok or make it the girls fault BUT what was a 14 year old girl doing walking around in the middle of the night in a well know dodgy area?
I understand what you are asking and it is a sad reflection of our modern world that they cannot just walk home from their friends without being assaulted. Age is not the issue, I imagine they would have done this to any woman who was walking alone.
Yep, spot on. Scotty is right to ask the question but the logical answer is that people should be allowed to walk home without fear. Sadly, the society we live in today doesn't allow this to happen. I wouldn't be walking into a park in Broadmeadows at night and I am not a 14 year old girl (well, not during the week anyway)
The question doesn't have any value though because there are plenty of reasons why she would be walking. Maybe she was supposed to stay at her friends house, but some ■■■■ went down there and she had to leave in a hurry? And her parents weren't answering the phone?
We have no way of knowing why she was out. Asking the question really does just infer that she shouldn't have been. We need to stop asking questions like this, and start asking questions about why some people are so ■■■■■■ up they think raping someone is a good idea.
There is nothing wrong with teenagers. There are bad eggs of all ages. Teenagers do not commit a disproportionate amount of sexual assualts.
Although they do have pretty damn stupid haircuts. And I say that as a guy who was a teen in the early 90's and had a really, really, really bad undercut...
As the parent of 3 teenagers, I find that it definitely gets down to the social groups in which the kids mix as to how they treat each other. My kids and their friends are a hell of a lot more conservative than I ever was. Sure they go out and drink and socialize but get home at a reasonable hour and don't seem to find any trouble.
Yep, spot on. Scotty is right to ask the question but the logical answer is that people should be allowed to walk home without fear. Sadly, the society we live in today doesn't allow this to happen. I wouldn't be walking into a park in Broadmeadows at night and I am not a 14 year old girl (well, not during the week anyway)
Why not? I go through the park in Broady at night when I'm out on a run or walking the dogs, theres nothing in the park at night thats not there during the day except irrational fear.