ROEBOURNE, Western Australia, is in the grip of a paedophile epidemic that has seen such a high incidence that child sex abuse is \u201cnormal\u201d.<\/p>\n
Police have charged 36 men with more than 300 offences against 184 children from Roeburne and surrounding communities.<\/p>\n
West Australian Police Commissioner Karl O\u2019Callaghan has described the rate of alleged child sex offending in Roebourne as \u201cstaggering\u201d and the problem as \u201ca cancer\u201d.<\/p>\n
The former gold rush town, which has a greater population of around 1400, lies in the Pilbara region 1500km north of Perth.<\/p>\n
The Pilbara, with vast mining resources and sparsely populated Aboriginal towns, covers 500,000 square kilometres stretching from the Indian Ocean to Central Australia.<\/p>\n
Roebourne, where the streets are lined with brick and stone colonial buildings, has dwindled since its 19th century boom as the largest settlement between Darwin and Perth.<\/p>\n
It has now been singled out as a festering mess of intergenerational child sexual abuse where kids are more likely to be raped than almost anywhere else on earth.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a war zone out there and the victims are little kids,\u201d Mr O\u2019Callaghan told the ABC in a recent news report following the multiple arrests of local men under \u00adOperation Fledermaus.<\/p>\n
In a nine-month operation across areas including Roebourne and the neighbouring city of Karratha, police identified almost three times as many suspects as the number arrested.<\/p>\n
The scale of the abuse uncovered was the worst WA Police had ever seen and the communities were in an \u201calmost unrecoverable crisis\u201d, Mr O\u2019Callaghan claimed.<\/p>\n
Earlier this month, The Australian reported<\/a> that child sex abuse in Roebourne was so \u201cnormal\u201d that even jailing known paedophiles was not enough to end it.<\/p>\n That was the opinion of West Australian Child Protection Minister Simone McGurk who visited Roebourne following the \u00adOperation Fledermaus arrests.<\/p>\n \u201cYes, you would have to say that, through the sorts of numbers we are starting to see,\u201d she told West Australian Bureau Chief<\/a>, Paige Taylor.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s intergenerational. Many of these perpetrators were victims themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n Alcohol, drugs and violence afflict the Roebourne and surrounding communities whose population is more than half indigenous.<\/p>\n Several Aboriginal women, young people and children came forward and in the same month, police charged three Roebourne men with child sex offences against girls aged between 13 and 16.<\/p>\n A 45-year-old man was charged with indecent dealing with a child over 13 and under 16 years, offering a prohibited drug and possession of drug paraphernalia.<\/p>\n A 52-year-old man was charged with two counts of sexual penetration of a child over 13 and under 16 years and one count of indecent dealing with a child over 13 and under 16 years.<\/p>\n A 39-year-old man has been charged with indecent dealing with a child over 13 and under 16 years.<\/p>\n Minister McGurk said \u201cchild protection workers, specialist police officers and other dedicated resources [were] on the ground giving support to the families and the community\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d like to acknowledge the strength of the children, the families \u2026 who have the courage to come forward,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cActually coming forward is a first step in systemic change.\u201d<\/p>\n WA Police Commissioner Karl O’Callaghan describes the rate of child sex abuse offending in Roebourne as \u2018staggering\u201d. Picture: Colin Murty.Source:News Corp Australia<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n Commissioner O\u2019Callaghan, however, identified another factor in the community, which is 80 per cent on welfare.<\/p>\n In an article he wrote for The West Australian<\/a>, Mr O\u2019Callaghan said child sex offenders were spending welfare money on drugs and alcohol to lure children.<\/p>\n \u201cA further pattern emerging is that offending activity seems to increase when offenders receive substantial amounts of money and spend it on a combination of alcohol, drugs, gambling and sex.<\/p>\n \u201cKnowing that welfare payments contribute to increases in many types of offending, particularly alcohol and drug-related offending, is hardly rocket science.<\/p>\n \u201cLinking such payments to an increase in sexual abuse of children, however, is a much newer phenomenon.\u201d<\/p>\n Communities in WA and South Australia were trialling a cashless debit card for welfare recipients, which cannot be used for alcohol, gambling or illicit substances.<\/p>\n Seven years ago, a WA government report painted a bleak picture of the life of Aboriginals in Roebourne.<\/p>\n The Roebourne Report said alcohol abuse, child neglect, violence and crime were occurring at an alarming rate.<\/p>\n Annual alcohol consumption in Roebourne Shire was 26.8 litres per person, three times the state average.<\/p>\n WA Child Protection minister Simone McGurk says child abuse in the Roebourne area has been \u2018normalised\u2019. Picture: Colin Murty.Source:News Corp Australia<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Cannabis use was rife among young people.<\/p>\n On fortnightly welfare pay days, gambling soared and children were left to their own devices.<\/p>\n Unsupervised children roamed the streets at night and house break-ins were viewed \u201cas the rite-of-passage for many Roebourne youth\u201d.<\/p>\n A high proportion of Roebourne children considered vulnerable in terms of their physical, social and emotional development.<\/p>\n According to Roebourne local, Violet Sampson alcohol abuse has turned the town\u2019s grandmothers into safe house operators.<\/p>\n Ms Sampson told news.com.au that she began looking after her grandchildren when their parents were out drinking.<\/p>\n \u201cI have three kids here,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen their parents split up and went off drinking, the kids came to me.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen they need a good sleep, without overcrowding and a feed, I take them.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd they can go to school in the morning.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s what grandmothers do here in Roebourne, Karratha. Aboriginal families we look after the kids.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n Source\u00a0 news.com.au<\/a><\/p>\n Save<\/span><\/p>\n Save<\/span><\/p>\n Save<\/span><\/p>\n Save<\/span><\/p>\n Save<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<\/div>\n
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