A 16-year-old girl who was part of a group that tortured a younger girl for four hours in a Sunshine Coast home in March last year walked free from court on Thursday.
Maroochydore District Court heard the teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, and two other girls lured a 13-year-old to a house in Tewantin where the victim was ‘cut’ with a knife, her hands tied and forced became to lick their feet.
The abuse that shocked Australia was filmed and uploaded to social media, later going viral on TikTok.
The teen’s “parents have abandoned her,” her lawyer told the court, and she will return to an assisted living facility. None of her family attended the sentencing hearing.
Judge Gary Long sentenced the girl, who shook during the hearing, to two years in prison, suspended entirely with a conditional release order. ABC reported.
A 16-year-old girl who was part of a group that tortured a younger girl for four hours in a Sunshine Coast home in March last year walked free from court on Thursday. An image of the attack was shown and posted on social media
The 16-year-old was also convicted this year of ‘repeated and recent’ offences, including assaulting a youth worker and stealing alcohol from bottle shops.
The prosecutor said the girl should be sentenced to custody based on her offense and the previous sentences imposed on her accomplices.
Instead, she was given a suspended sentence, 160 hours of community service and must undergo rehabilitation programs, psychological assessments and other treatment.
Her lawyer, Simon Lewis, told the court the teenager’s parents “can’t help her much.”
“When she visits her father, he gets her drunk.”
The 16-year-old is subject to a lengthy custody order and is under the care of the state.
In April this year, the girl twice lunged at an emergency worker, biting the worker on the hand and hitting him in the stomach with a shoe, leading to charges of assault occasioning bodily harm, the court heard.
A juvenile justice officer said she exhibits complex and challenging behavior and has suffered trauma, and that she abuses substances to cope with a heightened state of emotional “dysregulation.”
Judge Long said the four-hour attack on March 11, 2023 was ‘extremely traumatic’ and saw the 13-year-old victim subjected to ‘abhorrent’ taunts, spat on, punched, cut with a knife and made to lick the girls’ feet . among other ‘humiliating’ acts.
The accomplices lured the girl to the house, then locked the doors and took her phone and shoes.
The second oldest perpetrator took photos before the attack, after which they injured the girl all over her body, leaving her bleeding, bruised and swollen.
She was temporarily unable to see in one eye and also suffered a broken bone in her wrist.
After the attack, they brought the girl home wearing only a bra and shorts, then stopped at a friend’s house to brag about what they had done.
At the 13-year-old’s home, they stole a hair straightener and perfume and told the girl they would kill her family if she “betrayed.”
They accompanied the family as they took the victim to the hospital, to ensure the girl would say she was ‘jumped’ by unknown assailants.
The second oldest of the gang of attackers posted a video of the torture on TikTok, calling it ‘funny as f***’.
When the video started receiving negative comments, she tried to downplay her involvement and blamed the eldest girl as the person behind it all.
The court heard that three girls lured a 13-year-old to a house in Tewantin, where the victim was ‘cut’ with a knife, her hands tied and forced to lick their feet. An image of the attack is depicted
At Maroochydore District Court (pictured) Judge Gary Long sentenced the girl to two years in prison, suspended entirely with a parole order
No conviction was handed down and the judge told the 16-year-old that if she continued to commit crimes, she could soon be tried as an adult and end up in prison.
“The outcome here today is that we are taking into account your situation and some prospects for your future,” Judge Long told the girl.
When the judge asked her if she understood this was about changing her circumstances, she said quietly, “Yes, your honor.”
The teenager was also warned to stop abusing substances, including alcohol.