Australian police and child welfare officers are to investigate the case of a girl forced to admit she was raped during a radio stunt in which she was strapped to a lie detector, officials said yesterday.
The 14-year-old broke down on air after her mother, who volunteered her for the commercial radio segment, began pressing her about whether she was sexually active, knowing she had been assaulted.
“I’ve already told you the story about this, and don’t look at me and smile because it’s not funny,” said the girl, who was strapped to a polygraph machine. “Oh OK, I got raped when I was 12 years old.”
Host Kyle Sandilands’ response: “Right and is that the only sexual experience you’ve had?” prompted a barrage of online criticism and phone calls to the Sydney station demanding he and co-host Jackie O resign or be sacked.
Psychologists, child protection and rape crisis groups slammed Wednesday’s stunt as exploitative, insensitive and in bad taste.
New South Wales State Community Services Minister Linda Burney said she felt “sick” when she heard the segment and had asked child welfare officers and police to investigate.
“Whether or not they knew the claim of a rape is irrelevant,” Burney said. “The fact they had a 14-year-old girl there asking her about sex is the focus and the inappropriate action here.”
Burney also questioned the mother’s role, saying she had moral obligations toward her daughter.
“I hope that the parent involved is asking themselves whether or not they were very wise in what seemed like a fun activity, particularly if she was aware that the rape had taken place,” Burney said.
Sandilands, who is also a judge on the reality TV show Australian Idol and is famed for his blunt and inflammatory remarks, hit back at his critics, saying he had “no idea” about the girl’s past.
“An apology is an apology. I’ve apologized to anyone that it offended, I apologized to the girl,” Sandilands said. “Unfortunately rape happens in society. We didn’t know the poor kid had had that situation happen to her.”
He said the revelation stunned him into silence and admitted his response had not helped the situation.
“It’s sad, it was awful. I instantly felt terrible for the girl and the mother. I just wish that I’d chosen my words a bit more cleverly,” he said.
The communications authority said it had received a large volume of correspondence about the incident, but could not act until the girl herself made a complaint.
CHARGES: The former president, who maintains his innocence, was sentenced to 27 years and three months in prison for a failed coup bid, as well as an assassination plot Far-right former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro is running out of options to avoid prison, after judges on Friday rejected his appeal against a 27-year sentence for a botched coup bid. Bolsonaro lost the 2022 elections and was convicted in September for his efforts to prevent Brazlian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from taking power after the polls. Prosecutors said the scheme — which included plans to assassinate Lula and a top Brazilian Supreme Court judge — failed only due to a lack of support from military top brass. A panel of Supreme Court judges weighing Bolsonaro’s appeal all voted to uphold
The latest batch from convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s e-mails illustrates the extraordinary scope of his contacts with powerful people, ranging from a top Trump adviser to Britain’s ex-prince Andrew. The US House of Representatives is expected to vote this week on trying to force release of evidence gathered on Epstein by law enforcement over the years — including the identities of the men suspected of participating in his alleged sex trafficking ring. However, a slew of e-mails released this week have already opened new windows to the extent of Epstein’s network. These include multiple references to US President Donald
Chinese tech giant Alibaba yesterday denied it helps Beijing target the US, saying that a recent news report was “completely false.” The Financial Times yesterday reported that Alibaba “provides tech support for Chinese military ‘operations’ against [US] targets,” a White House memo provided to the newspaper showed. Alibaba hands customer data, including “IP addresses, WiFi information and payment records,” to Chinese authorities and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, the report cited the memo as saying. The Financial Times said it could not independently verify the claims, adding that the White House believes the actions threaten US security. An Alibaba Group spokesperson said “the assertions
LEFT AND RIGHT: Battling anti-incumbent, anticommunist sentiment, Jeanette Jara had a precarious lead over far-right Jose Antonio Kast as they look to the Dec. 14 run Leftist candidate Jeannette Jara and far-right leader Jose Antonio Kast are to go head-to-head in Chile’s presidential runoff after topping Sunday’s first round of voting in an election dominated by fears of violent crime. With 99 percent of the results counted, Jara, a 51-year-old communist running on behalf of an eight-party coalition, won 26.85 percent, compared with 23.93 percent for Kast, the Servel electoral service said. The election was dominated by deep concern over a surge in murders, kidnappings and extortion widely blamed on foreign crime gangs. Kast, 59, has vowed to build walls, fences and trenches along Chile’s border with Bolivia to
RSS