Teens walk free from court over gang sex attack

Two young men who became "friends" with a teenage girl on Facebook and later had group sex with her have avoided jail.

Waide Symes, of Cribb Point, and Neil Raymond Clark, of Hastings, are now registered sex offenders for life and have been ordered to perform unpaid community work. They have also had jail terms suspended.

The 19-year-olds pleaded guilty in the County Court to several sex offences including, respectively, four and three counts of sexual penetration of a child under 16.

In sentencing this morning, Judge Paul Lacava said jail terms for the teenagers would not be in the interests of them or the community given their remorse, plea of guilty, strong family support, work history and prospects of rehabilitation.

The Office of Public Prosecutions did not oppose the imposition of a non-custodial term.

A third offender has pleaded guilty in a Children's Court to the group sex counts.

Judge Lacava said Symes filmed Clark and the co-offender having sex with the girl, but noted that apart from showing Clark and the co-offender later, the video, taken on a mobile phone, had not been distributed and was deleted.

The judge said that the sex was consensual and there was no drugs, alcohol or inducement involved.

Symes' offending also included two other young girls, who he asked to touch his penis on separate occasions. Both refused but he forced one to do so.

Judge Lacava ordered Clark to perform 200 hours of unpaid community work over two years, and Symes to perform 300 hours over three years.

Neither had any prior convictions or other matters pending, he said.

He suspended jail terms of two years for each for two years. The judge said if there had been no plea of guilty, he would have jailed Clark for three years, with a minimum of 18 months, and Symes for three-and-a-half years, with a minimum of two.

theage.com.au 9 Feb 2012

The Australian government letting rapists go free, is another example of how little regard there is for sex crimes comitted against women.

If the sex crimes were committed against the judges own children, then the punishment would be different.

Since these crimes are committed against the children of the canon fodder, there is little consequence.

This is a policy rather than an exception.