A 16-year-old boy allegedly took “calculated steps” to lure “a vulnerable young child” into a toilet block in Adelaide’s southern suburbs before sexually assaulting him, a court has heard.
The teenager was arrested in February this year and charged with three counts of rape, one count of taking a person by force and one count of aggravated assault over the alleged incident.
A prosecutor told the Adelaide Youth Court on Monday that the alleged incident occurred in a toilet block at a park in Flagstaff Hill.
“Those allegations, Your Honour, show a set of circumstances, set of behaviour that is deeply troubling,” the prosecutor said.
“There is an element of calculation, in my respectful submission, and pre-planning that ultimately leads to a violent assault.
“Those are calculated steps to ensure that this complainant ends up in a vulnerable setting.
“A set of circumstances … that are thought out to arrange for that complainant to be in that area at that time and then to facilitate an assault.”
The magistrate refused the prosecution’s application to have the teen tried as an adult. (ABC News: Che Chorley)
The court also heard that the accused teenager was later “seen on CCTV running from the location”.
The prosecutor said the 16-year-old boy should face trial in an adult court because of the seriousness of the charges.
“[The alleged offending is on the] most serious end of the scale of criminality for offences of this type,” the prosecutor said.
“[They are] offences … committed on a stranger, a vulnerable young child … in a particularly vulnerable setting.”
The Adelaide Youth Court can order that a youth be tried in a higher court under Section 17 of the Youth Court Act if it finds the “gravity” of the alleged crime warrants a harsher penalty.
Magistrate Michael Jandy refused the application and adjourned the hearing.
The teenager is expected to face the Adelaide Youth Court again next month.