Wed, Mar 15, 2006 page19

• Attack on teenager rocks Commonwealth Games

  SCANDAL Police charged a masseur with indecently assaulting a girl at the athletes' village, where four trespassing teenage criminals were also caught

  • AP
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  No worries! Not exactly.

  A day ahead of today's Commonwealth Games opening ceremony, Australian organizers were being grilled over an alleged indecent assault of a 16-year-old girl working at the athletes' village.

  Victoria state police yesterday charged a man working as a masseur for the Indian team with one count of indecent assault and one of unlawful assault.

  

  Thirteen-year-old Australian diver Melissa Wu surfaces after a dive during her training session in Brisbane yesterday in preparation for the Melbourne Commonwealth Games, which open today. Wu, who will compete in the 10m platform event, was a stand-out performer both in the pool and in front of the abundance of television cameras that greeted the team yesterday.

  PHOTO: EPA

  He was released on bail, had his passport confiscated and was ordered to appear in a Melbourne court today.

  The man denied he assaulted the girl on Monday or was alone with her at any stage in his room. Police said the offense carries a maximum two years in prison.

  Victoria state's highest ranking police officer, chief commissioner Christine Nixon, said the incident did not compel authorities to boost security at the village.

  She might have to re-evaluate that after four teenage criminals scaled the fence of a nearby juvenile detention center and entered the village, which is housing almost 6,000 athletes and officials during the event, which starts today and runs through March 26.

  The four youths, aged between 14 and 16, escaped from the Melbourne Juvenile Justice Center in Parkville mid-afternoon yesterday, police said, but were arrested a short time later "in the vicinity of the village" and charged with escape and trespassing offenses.

  Thousands of police and private security guards are working across Melbourne during the games, backed by Australian 2,500 military staff and jets, helicopters and a naval ship.

  The village incidents have overshadowed 10 years of preparations, record ticket sales exceeding 1.3 million and a potential television audience of 1.5 billion people for the Commonwealth Games.

  Melbourne 2006 chairman Ron Walker made an audible groan after questions at the opening official news conference with games' hierarchy continuously returned to the assault allegation -- splashed across the front page of the mass-circulation Herald-Sun under the headline: "Sex Storm."

  He'd just outlined how the city's "exacting" decade-long preparations were about to come to fruition, describing Melbourne as so well presented he defied anyone to find so much as a cigarette butt littering the streets.

  Victoria's Commonwealth Games minister Justin Madden, a former Australian Rules football star, compared the village that houses 5,800 athletes and officials with any small town.

  "So of course you'd expect with that many people that you'd have incidents that are comparable to any demographic of 6,000 people at any one place at any one time," he said.

  Madden said Melbourne was "absolutely bursting with excitement" the day before the games open.

  More than 50,000 people attended the final rehearsal of the opening ceremony at the 85,000-seat Melbourne Cricket Ground on Monday night.

  Andrew Walsh, creative director for the opening ceremonies, promised a "robust" production that would make a statement about Melbourne's high confidence.

  "It's a ceremony that stands alone -- it's individual and the music that underscores it is original work," he said. "In terms of Commonwealth Games, it's a whole new playing field."

  The games also faced its first doping scandal.

  A weightlifter accused of supplying a banned substance that resulted in two Australians being suspended for two years has been confirmed in the Commonwealth Games team.

  Australian team chief John Devitt said that 19-year-old Belinda Van Tienen's case would be heard by the Australian Sports Commission ahead of the start of the weightlifting competition tomorrow.

  "We are aware that there are claims made against her, and there is an investigation which is ongoing," said Devitt. "At the moment, she is still on the team."
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