By Aaron Miller-
An 11-year-old Western Australian girl took her own life weeks after a man she accused of sexually abusing her was arrested and let out on bail.
The family of the tragic 11-year-old girl who took her own life in Western Australia say she was left traumatised after her alleged abuser was granted bail.
The girl, whose identity cannot be revealed, died in Perth Children’s Hospital on Tuesday, after being flown in from a regional town. The suicide has shocked her friends and family, who are feeling very angry at the system nd the man.
The Eye Of Media.Com has heard the man’s identity cannot be revealed simply because he has not yet been charged with rape. Police are still investigating the allegation and cannot take more radical steps in response to the girl’s suicide
Devastated family members and loved ones gathered at the hospital to pay their last respects to the young girl, whose untimely death has brought sorrow to those who knew her and her family. sleeping in their cars, to farewell her. The view by many observers is that the accused man should not have been bailed.
The elderly man accused of this act of paedophilia, is facing more than a dozen charges including sexual penetration of a child under 13 and indecent dealing. He will return to court later this year. Court records indicate he’s yet to enter a plea.
The National Suicide Prevention and Trauma Recovery Project (NSPTRP) director, Megan Krakouer, who has been with the girl’s family in hospital said they were shattered.
“Their lives are ruined and they are forever heartbroken,” she told AAP.
“She was failed by a number of organisations and a number of departments. What I did see at that hospital is there were so many little children crying and hurting. It broke my heart.”
Call For Bail Law Changes
Fellow NSPTRP director Gerry Georgatos called for bail laws needed to be changed. “That seared fear into the heart of the family and into the heart of the child, according to the family, and may have led to this child’s self-harm,” he said.
The WA police assistant commissioner, Jo McCabe, said the alleged offender should not have been granted bail.
“For someone so young to take their life is unacceptable and tragic and many questions need to be answered,” she said. “An early assessment of this case tells me that police bail should have been opposed and not considered in this instance.”
The opposition justice spokesman, Peter Katsambanis, said the WA Liberals would change the law to prevent accused child sex offenders from being granted police bail if elected next March.
“It should be completely off the table and any alleged offender should stay in custody until a court can determine bail,” he said.
The state’s health minister, Roger Cook, said he expected there to be a government investigation into what he described as a tragic event.
“When a small girl who clearly feels vulnerable and hopeless … takes her life, it strikes at the heart of all our sense of humanity,” he said. “My understanding is there was an element of counselling and some supports that were available – we need to look at if that was appropriate. I’m sure the justice system will look at the way that the bail and other court arrangements were handled, as well.”
“We are meeting and reaching families that aren’t being provided that support,” Krakoeur said, adding that the recovery project had assisted 12,500 people since September.
“Right now in its current form, it is failing dismally and left behind are my First Nations people