17 January 2012

13 year old girl assaulted on Mount Ainslie

| johnboy
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ACT Policing is appealing for witnesses to an incident where a 13-year-old girl was grabbed from behind while walking at the back of Mount Ainslie yesterday (Monday, January 16).

About 4.00 pm police were called to attend a horse trail at the back of Northcott Drive in Campbell following a report of a young girl being assaulted.

The 13-year-old was walking along the track with her dog, having entered from Hackett, and was near the dam when she was grabbed from behind by a man.

The man grabbed her around the top of her head and called for another man who was nearby to assist. As the young girl began to yell the first man grabbed her arm. The young girl continued to yell and was able to break free before running away.

A passerby found the young girl lying face down on the ground, in a disoriented state and contacted ACT Policing.

The first man is described as being around 20 years of age, very tall, with a skinny build and blonde hair. He was wearing white runners and a green-coloured shirt.

The second man is described as being around 20 years of age, very tall with possibly brown or blonde hair, wearing white runners and a number of earrings in one ear.

The victim was taken to The Canberra Hospital by ACT Ambulance Service with minor injuries.

Anyone who may have been in the area around 4 pm yesterday and saw two men matching the descriptions or is able to assist police with the investigation is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000, or via the Crime Stoppers website on www.act.crimestoppers.com.au. Information can be provided anonymously.

[Courtesy ACT Policing]

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Buzz2600 said :

Why can’t a 13yr old walk her dog on a public trail in Canberra without fear of being attacked?… I hope the ploice are fully investigating this and find the perpetrators soon.

Unfortunately, if they do find the two males, you realise that the ACT court will make the girl apologise to them and they’ll be awarded payments to compensate them for the myriad of things that caused them to hang around in bushes assaulting girls, don’t you?

Buzz,
I don’t know where you live but my parents were careful to warn us about going off into more remote areas by ourselves when I was this young and I’m a male. Nothing to do with being female.

As for the conspiracy theories, it’s probably because in recent years there’s been far more of these type of stories that turned out to be hoaxes or complete fabrications than there have been real attempted abductions (not saying that is the case here).

People are justifiably wary about instantly believing these stories because most of the time there’s more to them.

Wow … just WOW! I really thought we’d all progressed enough to understood that in a modern civilised society women and girls should be able to walk their dog – or just walk down the street – without fear of being attacked. Yes, we all need to be aware of our surroundings but questioning the victim into why she did certain things is truly victimising the victim here.

I fully realise that people on this forum like to practice their sarcasm/wit while others always seem to want to read some kind of paranoid conspiracy into every story. But Zeital’s comment almosts makes me wonder. A cold chill went down my back when I read comment. Why can’t a 13yr old walk her dog on a public trail in Canberra without fear of being attacked?

I hope the ploice are fully investigating this and find the perpetrators soon.

My heart truly goes out to this girl, I hope she is being taken well cared of and recovers soon. I hope that she realised that she was strong and couragous and will be able to walk in the bush or down the street without being afraid for the rest of her life.

EvanJames said :

… Strange men jumping out of the bushes is a fashionable fear but uncommon.

That area is within easy walking range from Ainslie village…

Stevian said :

Perhaps I’m watching to much TV, but I think there is more to this than is being told.

That there was a pair of assailants rather than just one suggest this was planned rather than a crime of opportunity. There have been cases of ‘custodial kidnapping’ in the past, perhaps this case is something akin to that

Yes, there’s something more to this. I will not be surprised to learn that she had some connection to the assailants and that there was something going on. Strange men jumping out of the bushes is a fashionable fear but uncommon.

Either way, it’s rotten and I hope the dog was OK too.

Poor kid. I hope she’s ok. I used to walk our dog alone all the time as a kid. What is wrong with the degenerate scum that attacked her???

Perhaps I’m watching to much TV, but I think there is more to this than is being told.

That there was a pair of assailants rather than just one suggest this was planned rather than a crime of opportunity. There have been cases of ‘custodial kidnapping’ in the past, perhaps this case is something akin to that

Gantz said :

Terrible thing to happen – but reading that police report, things don’t add up.
If she had fought and struggled (obviously knowing what the outcome could have been) to get away, why was she found by a passerby face down on the ground?

If you had fought and struggled to get away from attackers, you would keep running to a safe environment, not a short distance away in a vulnerable position like that.

Hope nothing worse has happened!

You are expecting a 13 year old girl to act logically after being attacked by two men. Perhaps she fainted, or went into shock. That would ‘add up’ to me. I don’t know what happened exactly, except that she managed to get away, and further speculation is hardly useful. I hope she makes a full recovery.

Gantz said :

If she had fought and struggled (obviously knowing what the outcome could have been) to get away, why was she found by a passerby face down on the ground?

If you had fought and struggled to get away from attackers, you would keep running to a safe environment, not a short distance away in a vulnerable position like that.

Gantz said :

Terrible thing to happen – but reading that police report, things don’t add up.
If she had fought and struggled (obviously knowing what the outcome could have been) to get away, why was she found by a passerby face down on the ground?

If you had fought and struggled to get away from attackers, you would keep running to a safe environment, not a short distance away in a vulnerable position like that.

Hope nothing worse has happened!

One possibility is that she was running, looked back to check on where they were, tripped over something and fell then was found.

We got taught a valuable lesson in school: kick em in the nuts and run.

Terrible thing to happen – but reading that police report, things don’t add up.
If she had fought and struggled (obviously knowing what the outcome could have been) to get away, why was she found by a passerby face down on the ground?

If you had fought and struggled to get away from attackers, you would keep running to a safe environment, not a short distance away in a vulnerable position like that.

Hope nothing worse has happened!

p1 said :

I-filed said :

I think it’s OK for parents to let their children head up Mt Ainslie unaccompanied – provided it’s when the track is busy and people will notice them. Only yesterday I kept a vague eye on a kid of about 13 who appeared to be on his own. Ideally of course the kid would have had a friend with him.

Sigh This saddens me a lot. I know I would also keep a casual eye on a lone 13 year old I saw in the bush – I wish I didn’t feel the need. From about 8 I used to roam the scrub in Aranda and on Black Mt for many hours (usually with a friend admittedly) and have never really thought twice about it.

As a child, we were taught one golcen rule was to always go in company. What happens if you’re bitten by a snake? If you’re alone, you could very well die. If you’re with somebody, you will almost certainly not die (unless you do something stupid like try to run home as fast as you can).

It’s actually all about education: we live in such a nanny state that people have backed right off from educating their children properly, and when something goes wrong, there’s always somebody else to blame.

colourful sydney racing identity said :

Zeital said :

This is why young kids shouldn’t go walking around by themselves…… fail spelling

There are countries where women, young and old, are not allowed to walk around by themselves. I f you would like to live in such a society, please move to one.

And we live in one that has people attack 13 year old kids for no good reason
I admit I also used to go out and about by myself as a kid but I always try to go with someone now because of things like this even though I am an adult. I just don’t trust places that are quiet like a track with no one else walking on it ‘if’ I ever had kids I would always have someone go with them it’s just the way it is now

ThatUniStudent10:23 pm 17 Jan 12

Hosinator said :

intaba said :

So true, I can’t believe this girl made herself get attacked. The family should hire someone to walk their dog instead of letting their high-school age kid take on some household responsibility.
PS It’s ‘themselves’.

So it’s her fault that she was the attacked, rather than being the victim she’s somehow provoked this incident.

I think you may have missed the obvious (to some) sarcasm by the poster there.

Hosinator said :

intaba said :

So true, I can’t believe this girl made herself get attacked. The family should hire someone to walk their dog instead of letting their high-school age kid take on some household responsibility.
PS It’s ‘themselves’.

So it’s her fault that she was the attacked, rather than being the victim she’s somehow provoked this incident.

Hmmm, I think someone’s sarcasm detector is either non-existent or not functioning at the time of reading.

intaba said :

So true, I can’t believe this girl made herself get attacked. The family should hire someone to walk their dog instead of letting their high-school age kid take on some household responsibility.
PS It’s ‘themselves’.

So it’s her fault that she was the attacked, rather than being the victim she’s somehow provoked this incident.

The fact that someone tried to grab a kid in at one time out of 24 hours in Sydney, a city of 3 million people, proves nothing about public safety.

Agree with PPs who say that the more people are out and about, the safer we all are.

I-filed said :

I think it’s OK for parents to let their children head up Mt Ainslie unaccompanied – provided it’s when the track is busy and people will notice them. Only yesterday I kept a vague eye on a kid of about 13 who appeared to be on his own. Ideally of course the kid would have had a friend with him.

Sigh This saddens me a lot. I know I would also keep a casual eye on a lone 13 year old I saw in the bush – I wish I didn’t feel the need. From about 8 I used to roam the scrub in Aranda and on Black Mt for many hours (usually with a friend admittedly) and have never really thought twice about it.

Holden Caulfield6:28 pm 17 Jan 12

I-filed said :

I think it’s OK for parents to let their children head up Mt Ainslie unaccompanied – provided it’s when the track is busy and people will notice them. Only yesterday I kept a vague eye on a kid of about 13 who appeared to be on his own. Ideally of course the kid would have had a friend with him.

Hmm, maybe he did, she was walking her dog.

I think it’s OK for parents to let their children head up Mt Ainslie unaccompanied – provided it’s when the track is busy and people will notice them. Only yesterday I kept a vague eye on a kid of about 13 who appeared to be on his own. Ideally of course the kid would have had a friend with him.

creative_canberran6:06 pm 17 Jan 12

Zeital said :

This is why young kids shouldn’t go walking around by them selfs……

In a practical sense yes but gosh society has reached a sad state when you basically can’t go anywhere anymore for fear of attack.

Unfortunately society has reached such a stage, this (http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/girl-escapes-attempted-abduction/story-e6frf7jx-1226246549587) happened in Sydney yesterday. Man and a woman in a car tried to abduct a 10yr old girl.

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd5:36 pm 17 Jan 12

Disgusting pieces of excrement. I wish i was there and saw this. They would never do it again. wtf goes through some peoples minds???

colourful sydney racing identity said :

There are countries where women, young and old, are not allowed to walk around by themselves. I f you would like to live in such a society, please move to one.

You mean like, Ainslie?

Im wondering reading this story, what happened to the dog? I would have thought the dog would have jumped to the defence of its owner given the situation.

Someonesmother4:14 pm 17 Jan 12

Shame it wasn’t a big, vicious dog.

Terrifying .. Am a regular user of the track, so this is very scary. I like to think of Canberra as a place where young people can be safe while walking their dog ..

Not a nice thing to happen at all. Hope she is okay and they catch the creeps. I hope she comes out of this incident okay, can be a scary thing for someone to go through.

Zeital said :

This is why young kids shouldn’t go walking around by them selfs……

They should be able to though.

Poor girl. Hope she is OK.

colourful sydney racing identity3:40 pm 17 Jan 12

Zeital said :

This is why young kids shouldn’t go walking around by them selfs……

There are countries where women, young and old, are not allowed to walk around by themselves. I f you would like to live in such a society, please move to one.

It sounds like she dealt with it incredibly well. Brave girl.
I hope she is alright.

Zeital said :

This is why young kids shouldn’t go walking around by them selfs……

So true, I can’t believe this girl made herself get attacked. The family should hire someone to walk their dog instead of letting their high-school age kid take on some household responsibility.
PS It’s ‘themselves’.

This is why young kids shouldn’t go walking around by them selfs……

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