My daughter, then 17, was digitally raped by her friend at a party. He woke her up from sleeping by raping her, she froze, whilst he raped and physically assaulted other areas of her body. The r**e only stopped when he needed to go outside and vomit; he was very intoxicated.
The sexual assault occurred in a room with several other people, and whilst one person heard her ask him to "f**k off and leave her alone", she did not realise what was happening. The boy in question consumed a vast amount of alcohol that night, and several people have given statements to say that he was acting very predatory to the girls that were present, making some feel uncomfortable.
After he vomited, the boy almost hid, did not talk to anyone, and as soon as the first bus was available at 6 am, he went home. My daughter immediately told her friend, but she did not want to phone the police at that time, she reported the r**e three days later.
From the beginning of the investigation, the boy in question obtained a lawyer. He has only his word against my daughter's, and the lawyer has asked what antidepressants she was on (she was at the time on very little). My daughter has various statements regarding his behaviour, a screen shot of a conversation he initiated the next day attempt normal conversation, and where my daughter constantly states " I was awake last night, you raped me', to which he ignores, until the last line where he states, "I was very drunk last night".
That is a very brief summary of the incident. My questions are:
If he was 6 weeks away from being 18 at the time of the r**e, should he not be tried as an adult as he obviously knew what he was doing was wrong, and the long-term implications of the crime. Are they not the benchmarks to move to the adult system?
The police prosecutor is pushing for my daughter to accept a plea bargain of Indecent Assault. This will mean a family conference as the sentence. My daughter does not want to accept this as;
1 She feels that she will be lying
2 She wants him to admit what he did
3 Another girl has since accused him of the same crime but feels unable to report to police due to family complications
We have to meet with the police prosecutor in early Jan when he intends to show my daughter around the court, "so she will realise what she letting herself in for". My daughter has PTSD from the r**e, her depression increased, and I have lost count of the many nights she has woken me up screaming in her sleep. She almost wants to take control back but is being pushed into accepting a plea.
Any suggestions/help under Criminal Law?
The sexual assault occurred in a room with several other people, and whilst one person heard her ask him to "f**k off and leave her alone", she did not realise what was happening. The boy in question consumed a vast amount of alcohol that night, and several people have given statements to say that he was acting very predatory to the girls that were present, making some feel uncomfortable.
After he vomited, the boy almost hid, did not talk to anyone, and as soon as the first bus was available at 6 am, he went home. My daughter immediately told her friend, but she did not want to phone the police at that time, she reported the r**e three days later.
From the beginning of the investigation, the boy in question obtained a lawyer. He has only his word against my daughter's, and the lawyer has asked what antidepressants she was on (she was at the time on very little). My daughter has various statements regarding his behaviour, a screen shot of a conversation he initiated the next day attempt normal conversation, and where my daughter constantly states " I was awake last night, you raped me', to which he ignores, until the last line where he states, "I was very drunk last night".
That is a very brief summary of the incident. My questions are:
If he was 6 weeks away from being 18 at the time of the r**e, should he not be tried as an adult as he obviously knew what he was doing was wrong, and the long-term implications of the crime. Are they not the benchmarks to move to the adult system?
The police prosecutor is pushing for my daughter to accept a plea bargain of Indecent Assault. This will mean a family conference as the sentence. My daughter does not want to accept this as;
1 She feels that she will be lying
2 She wants him to admit what he did
3 Another girl has since accused him of the same crime but feels unable to report to police due to family complications
We have to meet with the police prosecutor in early Jan when he intends to show my daughter around the court, "so she will realise what she letting herself in for". My daughter has PTSD from the r**e, her depression increased, and I have lost count of the many nights she has woken me up screaming in her sleep. She almost wants to take control back but is being pushed into accepting a plea.
Any suggestions/help under Criminal Law?