VICTORIA Police’s sexual crimes unit could take weeks until it charges anyone over the sexual assault of a 17-year-old girl filmed for a sadistic DVD.
Detective Acting Inspector Simon Clemence said he was heading up a “painstaking investigation,” that required technical legal advice.
“This isn’t something that can happen overnight,” he said.
The police have so far interviewed nine members of a teenage gang, aged 16 or 17. Some have chosen not to speak, Acting Insp Clemence said. Some were taken to police by their parents.
He said new evidence had emerged after police seized evidence from at least seven homes in Werribee and Point Cook last week, including computers.
“We’re talking about more than what appeared on the edited footage,” he said.
Charges could include rape, indecent and serious assault, and behavioural offences, he said.
Anyone with the DVD could face being charged with possessing child pornography.
Werribee Police handed the investigation over to city detectives early last week, once excerpts from the DVD were shown on TV.
Inspector Shane Dowling from Werribee police said the DVD should have been brought to the attention of the local police as soon as it started making the rounds at local schools several weeks ago.
The sexual assault of the girl is alleged to have been committed in June, during school holidays.
Meanwhile, a local lawyer said he had already been hired to represent some of the young men.
Juvenile crime cases are heard in the Children’s Court and presided over by a Children’s Court senior magistrate.
However, serious offences, including rape, can be heard by a higher court, the County Court or the Supreme Court, with or without a jury.
Unconfirmed reports indicate a second DVD was being prepared.
