Charges over alleged Perth Children's Hospital rape discontinued due to concerns for girl

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The parents of a teenage girl who was allegedly raped by another patient in the psychiatric ward of Perth Childrens Hospital have launched a scathing attack on the response from the state's Health Minister.

Transcript

00:00 With a 13-year-old girl allegedly raped by another patient in Perth Children's Hospital,

00:07 WA's top cop has labelled the case horrific.

00:11 I think everyone that heard that story would have been appalled and shocked

00:15 that this has happened to a very young person in what we all believe to be a very safe place.

00:21 The teen was admitted to PCH in January 2022,

00:25 suffering from the mental trauma of being sexually assaulted by a stranger months earlier.

00:31 It's alleged in hospital she was raped again.

00:34 Police were called on the night of the incident and did a full investigation.

00:38 We did charge the 13-year-old offender.

00:42 The case was set to go to trial in the Children's Court last September before the charges were dropped.

00:47 Prosecutors and the alleged victim's family were reluctant to put the girl through a traumatic trial.

00:54 State Prosecutor Brad Hollingsworth told the court how vulnerable child witnesses

00:59 would usually be admitted to Perth Children's Hospital for psychiatric observation

01:04 before and after taking the stand.

01:07 In this case he said that would be effectively asking the teen to go back to the place

01:12 where her assault was alleged to have occurred, and that simply was not viable.

01:17 The Health Department's response included a critical incident review

01:21 and an investigation by the chief psychiatrist.

01:24 The victim's family says they're not satisfied,

01:27 and they dispute claims by the minister that they were offered multiple meetings,

01:31 with the girl's mother saying that was "utter bullshit" and she felt like she was being gaslit.

01:37 Amber Jade Sanderson says she's done everything in her power

01:41 to enact meaningful changes to ensure patient safety,

01:44 and if the family wanted to discuss the changes,

01:47 she was an open invite to meet with herself and the board chair.

01:51 Across the government there is obviously an understanding of the deep trauma

01:56 that this child has gone through, deep sympathy,

01:59 and the minister is taking this very seriously.

02:02 The Cook Labor Government have to stop drip-feeding information

02:06 and publicly release the two reviews into the alleged rape at Perth Children's Hospital.

02:13 The health minister says the recommendations of those reviews have been acted on.

02:17 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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