By Ann Marie Angebrandt
VICTORIA Police say it does not change their investigation if the girl involved in a DVD sexual assault inquiry was in a relationship with one of the teenage boys now under scrutiny.
It was reported last week that the 17-year-old girl continued a relationship with one of her alleged attackers for several months after the DVD was made.
But Detective Acting Insp Simon Clemence of the sexual assault unit said it would not make any difference to the inquiry.
“That’s not something we have knowledge of and we haven’t commented on it,” he said.
“But it would not change whether or not the assaults were committed.”
Acting Insp Clemence said the unit had completed interviewing 12 teenage boys. But it could be several weeks, or even months, before it was known if they would face charges, he said.
“We’ve seized a number of computers and phones and are now analysing a great deal of material to determine exactly what happened,” he said.
Most of the boys are believed to be 16 or 17, but at least one has turned 18 since the offences took place in June.
Under Victorian law, a person can be tried as an adult if they have turned 18 since the offence.
“It’s an option that would be considered,” Acting Insp Clemence said.
The DVD, which was sold around Wyndham schools, showed about a dozen boys waiting for the girl at the Werribee train station before taking her to the river bank and assaulting and humiliating her.
It also showed the young men throwing eggs at local taxi drivers, harassing a homeless man, and hoon driving.
Possible charges could include rape, indecent and sexual assault, behavioural offences, and child pornography, Acting Insp Clemence said.
