Sickening footage has emerged of a gang of young thugs bashing and stealing shoes from a 15-year-old boy with special needs, after he was lured to a rural train station under the guise of a friendly catch-up.
The boy, who has autism and epilepsy, was elated when he received a Snapchat message from two girls wanting to be friends.
They arranged to meet at a bus stop near a train station in the regional Victorian town of Stawell, about 237km northwest of Melbourne, at 5.45pm on October 5.
But instead of two friendly faces, the boy from Ararat was met by three violent teenagers.
Sickening footage has emerged of a gang of young thugs bashing and stealing shoes from a 15-year-old boy with special needs, after he was lured to a rural train station under the guise of a friendly catch-up. news.com.au
Graphic footage captures three boys taunting the victim as he tries to walk away, before they throw punches and shove him to the ground.
One of the teenagers holds the boy down, punching the side of his head, while two other alleged offenders kick at his face.
A group of girls watch on as the disgusting act unfolds.
When one of the girls is heard screaming, “Not the head,” the gang kicks the boy in the stomach.
The attackers briefly stop, but the victim’s relief is short-lived as he suffers another blow to the face.
The teenager filming the attack then demands the victim hand over his runners.
“Take your shoes off right now … take your f**king shoes off,” he says.
Confused, the victim asks, “What size shoe are you?” before suffering another blow to the face.
The boy, who has autism and epilepsy, was elated when he received a Snapchat message from two girls wanting to be friends. news.com.au
The boy manages to remove his shoes. Remarkably, the teenager behind the camera thanks him before telling him to “get the f**k out of here.”
In a desperate bid to understand the ambush, the boy asks one of them, “Who are you? I don’t know you,” prompting a final kick to the face.
The ordeal lasted just over a minute, stealing any sense of safety the boy had left in going out on his own.
While the attack unfolded, the boy’s mother thought her son was enjoying an afternoon out with friends.
She only discovered the horrifying truth when she received a phone call from her son using a paramedic’s phone.
They arranged to meet at a bus stop near a train station in the regional Victorian town of Stawell, about 237km northwest of Melbourne, at 5.45pm on October 5. But instead of two friendly faces, the boy from Ararat was met by three violent teenagers. news.com.au
“I wrap my kids up in cotton wool, I don’t really like them going anywhere,” the boy’s mum told news.com.au.
“But I thought because he was going to catch up with friends and make friends, he’d be okay.”
The boy, whose identity has been withheld for his safety, sustained soft tissue damage as well as potential head injuries.
“We are getting another scan because he may have bleeding on the brain … but we have to wait for the swelling to go down and for the bruises to come out a bit,” his mum said.
“I’m just lucky to have him alive … he’s having nightmares.”
A video shows a boy being hit by a group of people. news.com.au
As the boy recovers at home, he has told his mum he is too scared to leave the house.
His family is also struggling to come to terms with why the group of teenagers targeted their “loving and caring” son.
“It makes me feel sick, it makes me feel unsafe … no kid should go through what my son went through,” the boy’s mum said.
“I just want to know why they did it.”
Police charged the three boys – one 14-year-old and two 15-year-olds – involved in the incident on Tuesday afternoon.
Detectives from the Northern Grampians Crime Investigation Unit executed four search warrants in the Northern Grampians area and arrested the boys.
All three have been charged with affray, robbery, recklessly cause injury and theft and will appear before a children’s court at a later date.
A fourth boy who was not present at a warrant will be interviewed.
Superintendent Dan Davidson said he completely understands the concern the incident had caused in the Stawell community.
“Since last Monday, local uniform police and detectives have been working tirelessly to identify those involved and hold them to account, and this important work will continue,” he said.
“There is never any excuse for violence in our community, and we will not accept it in any form.
“Detectives are continuing to investigate the matter and while we are treating it as an isolated incident, additional patrols will take place across Stawell to ensure our community not only is safe but feels safe.”
Detectives are continuing to investigate the matter and further arrests are expected.
Additional patrols will also be deployed to the Stawell area to deter and detect anti-social behaviour.
Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or file a confidential report online at http://www.crimestoppersvic.com.au.