Hope for further charges over marriage of 12-year-old New South Wales girl
Police are hoping to charge more people over the marriage of a 12-year-old girl in the Hunter region.
A Muslim cleric, Riaz Tasawar who was until recently the imam at the Mayfield mosque in Newcastle, has been arrested over the illegal union.
The imam is accused of conducting the marriage of a girl who is now 13 to a 26-year-old man last month.
He has been granted bail to face court in April on a charge of solemnisation of a marriage by an unauthorised person.
The illegal union was sanctioned by the girl's father. It is understood police are considering whether they can charge him.
Deputy Commissioner Nick Kaldas says police need to get legal advice before they can make more arrests, "The investigation is nowhere near finished. Any further charges that can be laid will be laid, possibly subject to legal advice," he said.
The 26-year-old who married the girl is in custody on child sex charges. He is planning to apply for bail in court tomorrow.
The Islamic Centre of Newcastle has distanced itself from the former imam. In a statement it says it had no knowledge of and did not give permission for the illegal marriage.
It says "what is most important at this point is for police to conclude their investigation and arrest all those responsible."
The Centre says it is assisting police with their investigation.
Sex crime charges laid against man 'married' to 13yo girl
The Sydney man has been refused bail after being charged over a live-in sexual relationship with the 13-year-old girl mentioned in the post just above. The pair were living together in Sydney's west.
Police sources say the 26-year-old man and the girl were "married" in an Islamic religious ceremony in the Hunter region last month. The marriage has no legal standing in Australia because of the girl's age.
The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, allegedly met the girl in the Hunter region last year and began an ongoing sexual relationship with her. They then moved in together in Sydney.
A nearby high school contacted police recently when the man, a Lebanese national, tried to enrol the girl.
Detectives from the state's Child Abuse Squad arrested the man yesterday.
He was then charged with 25 separate counts of having sexual intercourse with a child aged between 10 and 14 years.
The man needed an interpreter when he faced Burwood Local Court today, where bail was refused. He will apply for bail again when he reappears next week.
The Child Abuse Squad says its investigations into the case are continuing. Police have questioned the girl's parents and believe they had a hand in arranging the marriage.
Detective Inspector Peter Yeomans says it is a disturbing situation. "It's really really unusual," he said.
"We do have sexual assaults of minors... but this type of situation where it is almost sanctioned by a family, if that ends up being the case, is a very very unusual set of circumstances to happen within NSW."
But the NSW Minister for Family and Community services, Pru Goward, says it is not an isolated case.
"There are actually a significant number of unlawful, unregistered marriages to underage girls in NSW, particularly in south-west Sydney, western Sydney and the Blue Mountains," she said.
Former Perth high school teacher Rodney Westacott sentenced over possession of child pornography
A former Perth high school teacher has been sentenced to 18-months jail for possessing more than 1,000 images and videos of child pornography.
Rodney Westacott resigned last year after being arrested as part of a global investigation into child sexual abuse which centred on a website that operated out of Canada.
A search of electronic storage devices at his home found pictures, DVDs and CDs of children as young as three being abused.
The District Court was told Westacott had been collecting child pornography for almost a decade, and while he initially maintained he did not have a sexual interest in children, he now accepted he had.
His lawyer Simon Freitag said Westacott had generally been able to suppress the interest, but downloaded the material when he was drunk and depressed.
Mr Freitag said his client had been a good, caring and hardworking teacher. "He has thrown that away," he said. "He is very ashamed and embarrassed about what he's done."
Judge Simon Stone said some of the material was at the very worst end of the scale, but the majority was at the lower end.
He said he had had to view a small sample of the material, "and the facial expressions of some of the boys showed pain and misery".
Judge Stone said the offences were serious because of the large number of images and video. "Each depicts a victimised child," he said. "They're obviously young children in pain being forced to participate in sexual activity."
Westacott will have to serve nine months before he can be released.
Man charged with sex assault on 6yo girl at Botany in Sydney's south
Police say the 51-year-old assaulted the girl in a room during a visit he made to a home at Botany on Sunday.
The Child Abuse Squad launched an investigation on Wednesday after receiving information and arrested the man that afternoon at Five Dock in the city's inner west.
He has been charged with one count each of sexual assault on a person under 10 and aggravated indecent assault.
The man was refused bail and will remain in custody until he faces Central Local Court next week.
Man charged with attempting to procure child for sex in middle of Denmark
Detectives have charged a man with procuring a child to perform a sexual act after an encounter on a street in the centre of the South West town of Denmark.
Police say the 15-year-old girl called out to a man on Mitchell Street last Friday night, thinking he was a friend.
The man approached her and the girl realised she did not know him. The 34-year-old then kissed her on the neck and asked her to engage in sexual behaviour.
When she refused, he followed her into her house where he was confronted by a woman who demanded he leave.
He has been charged with indecent dealing, attempting to procure a child to engage in sexual behaviour and aggravated burglary.
This might well be an answered prayer. Had the woman not been home, this girl might have been in serious trouble. Thank You for keeping her safe, Lord.
Police are hoping to charge more people over the marriage of a 12-year-old girl in the Hunter region.
A Muslim cleric, Riaz Tasawar who was until recently the imam at the Mayfield mosque in Newcastle, has been arrested over the illegal union.
The imam is accused of conducting the marriage of a girl who is now 13 to a 26-year-old man last month.
He has been granted bail to face court in April on a charge of solemnisation of a marriage by an unauthorised person.
The illegal union was sanctioned by the girl's father. It is understood police are considering whether they can charge him.
Deputy Commissioner Nick Kaldas says police need to get legal advice before they can make more arrests, "The investigation is nowhere near finished. Any further charges that can be laid will be laid, possibly subject to legal advice," he said.
The 26-year-old who married the girl is in custody on child sex charges. He is planning to apply for bail in court tomorrow.
 |
| Deputy Commissioner Nick Kaldas |
The Islamic Centre of Newcastle has distanced itself from the former imam. In a statement it says it had no knowledge of and did not give permission for the illegal marriage.
It says "what is most important at this point is for police to conclude their investigation and arrest all those responsible."
The Centre says it is assisting police with their investigation.
Sex crime charges laid against man 'married' to 13yo girl
The Sydney man has been refused bail after being charged over a live-in sexual relationship with the 13-year-old girl mentioned in the post just above. The pair were living together in Sydney's west.
Police sources say the 26-year-old man and the girl were "married" in an Islamic religious ceremony in the Hunter region last month. The marriage has no legal standing in Australia because of the girl's age.
The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, allegedly met the girl in the Hunter region last year and began an ongoing sexual relationship with her. They then moved in together in Sydney.
A nearby high school contacted police recently when the man, a Lebanese national, tried to enrol the girl.
Detectives from the state's Child Abuse Squad arrested the man yesterday.
He was then charged with 25 separate counts of having sexual intercourse with a child aged between 10 and 14 years.
The man needed an interpreter when he faced Burwood Local Court today, where bail was refused. He will apply for bail again when he reappears next week.
The Child Abuse Squad says its investigations into the case are continuing. Police have questioned the girl's parents and believe they had a hand in arranging the marriage.
Detective Inspector Peter Yeomans says it is a disturbing situation. "It's really really unusual," he said.
"We do have sexual assaults of minors... but this type of situation where it is almost sanctioned by a family, if that ends up being the case, is a very very unusual set of circumstances to happen within NSW."
But the NSW Minister for Family and Community services, Pru Goward, says it is not an isolated case.
"There are actually a significant number of unlawful, unregistered marriages to underage girls in NSW, particularly in south-west Sydney, western Sydney and the Blue Mountains," she said.
Former Perth high school teacher Rodney Westacott sentenced over possession of child pornography
A former Perth high school teacher has been sentenced to 18-months jail for possessing more than 1,000 images and videos of child pornography.
Rodney Westacott resigned last year after being arrested as part of a global investigation into child sexual abuse which centred on a website that operated out of Canada.
A search of electronic storage devices at his home found pictures, DVDs and CDs of children as young as three being abused.
The District Court was told Westacott had been collecting child pornography for almost a decade, and while he initially maintained he did not have a sexual interest in children, he now accepted he had.
His lawyer Simon Freitag said Westacott had generally been able to suppress the interest, but downloaded the material when he was drunk and depressed.
Mr Freitag said his client had been a good, caring and hardworking teacher. "He has thrown that away," he said. "He is very ashamed and embarrassed about what he's done."
Judge Simon Stone said some of the material was at the very worst end of the scale, but the majority was at the lower end.
 |
| Westacott |
Judge Stone said the offences were serious because of the large number of images and video. "Each depicts a victimised child," he said. "They're obviously young children in pain being forced to participate in sexual activity."
Westacott will have to serve nine months before he can be released.
Man charged with sex assault on 6yo girl at Botany in Sydney's south
Police say the 51-year-old assaulted the girl in a room during a visit he made to a home at Botany on Sunday.
The Child Abuse Squad launched an investigation on Wednesday after receiving information and arrested the man that afternoon at Five Dock in the city's inner west.
He has been charged with one count each of sexual assault on a person under 10 and aggravated indecent assault.
The man was refused bail and will remain in custody until he faces Central Local Court next week.
Man charged with attempting to procure child for sex in middle of Denmark
Detectives have charged a man with procuring a child to perform a sexual act after an encounter on a street in the centre of the South West town of Denmark.
Police say the 15-year-old girl called out to a man on Mitchell Street last Friday night, thinking he was a friend.
The man approached her and the girl realised she did not know him. The 34-year-old then kissed her on the neck and asked her to engage in sexual behaviour.
When she refused, he followed her into her house where he was confronted by a woman who demanded he leave.
He has been charged with indecent dealing, attempting to procure a child to engage in sexual behaviour and aggravated burglary.
This might well be an answered prayer. Had the woman not been home, this girl might have been in serious trouble. Thank You for keeping her safe, Lord.
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