A campaign of intimidation against a Tuggeranong schoolgirl who was allegedly raped by three older teenagers last month has escalated out of control, prosecutors say.
The ACT Magistrates Court heard yesterday that the boyfriend of the 16-year-old girl at the centre of the case was attacked, his car was torched and her mother received abusive phone calls.
A bail application hearing for one of the girl's alleged attackers, 18-year-old Kalonga Chifuntwe, was told a cyber-bullying campaign against the girl had also intensified.
All three of those accused of raping the girl deny the charges and none is accused of direct involvement in the harassment.
Chief Magistrate Ron Cahill told the court he had no words for his horror at the girl's treatment by some of her peers, and threatened indefinite time behind bars for anyone charged with harassment.
He warned that anyone accused of harassing the victim could face a lengthy period in custody. ''If anyone appears before me charged with involvement in this, they will be remanded in custody and they will stay in custody until the matter is resolved. That young people in that area of Canberra should be behaving like this gives me grave fears for the future of this city,'' he said.
Prosecutors told Mr Cahill that the alleged victim's boyfriend was approached at a Civic pub on Saturday night and asked if he was in a relationship with the girl. He told police he was punched in the face when he replied ''yes''.
Chifuntwe is accused, along with 18-year-old Michael Vaughan and a 17-year-old who cannot be named, of taking the girl from her school to one of their houses in June before raping her. Police believe the three filmed the attack on a mobile phone and distributed the video. Detectives are also investigating an incident on Monday night, when the tyres of the victim's boyfriend's car were slashed while it was parked outside a friend's home. When he returned to pick up the immobilised car the next day, it had been doused in petrol and set alight, police said.
The victim's mother has complained of a phone call in which the caller demanded to speak to her daughter. When the mother asked who was speaking, the caller said, ''I want to speak to your slut daughter.''
The court was also told that the girl had received online messages from other teenagers who threatened to go to the court in an effort at further intimidation.
Mr Cahill said the harassment amounted to mob violence and an attempt to pervert the course of justice, and had the potential to makes things worse for the three accused.
''It's such a perversion of our criminal justice system that I can't find words to express my horror,'' he said.
''That a young girl, who has made an allegation of rape, should be subjected to mob violence.
''These people haven't even got the guts to identify themselves and they are definitely not helping this defendant.''
Mr Cahill released Chifuntwe on bail conditions that he said amounted to ''virtual house arrest'', directing that the 18-year-old not be allowed to leave the house unless in the company of his mother or father, and neither have a mobile phone nor use a computer unless he was supervised.
Email a friend
Favourites
Del.icio.us
Facebook
Digg
StumbleUpon
MySpace
Reddit
Newsvine
LinkedIn
Kwoff
Twitter