Prosecutor suspended in Australian rape furore: official

0 Comments | AFP, December, 2007

SYDNEY (AFP) — An Australian prosecutor who described nine males who gang-raped a 10-year-old Aboriginal girl as "naughty" was suspended from duty as outrage grew Wednesday over the fact they were not jailed.

Court transcripts showed prosecutor Steve Carter described the 2006 rape as "childish experimentation" and consensual "in a general sense."

District Court judge Sarah Bradley did not record convictions against six teenage attackers aged under 17 and gave suspended sentences to three others aged 17, 18 and 26.

The girl had "probably agreed" to have sex with them, Bradley said.

The case has triggered a storm of protest, with child advocate groups and politicians, including newly-elected Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, joining in a chorus of...