In a youth detention centre on the outskirts of Townsville, detectives sit opposite a teenager, hoping she will talk to them about an alleged crime.
The police officers travelled 350km from Cairns for the interview, but they haven’t come because they think she has committed a crime; they suspect she is a victim.
Since launching operation Uniform Kalahari in January last year to investigate the alleged grooming and exploitation of children and the alleged supply of drugs to them, the Cairns child protection investigation unit has charged 12 people with 263 offences against 52 young people, aged as young as 11.
Guardian Australia can reveal that a significant number of alleged victims linked to the police investigation are, at the same time, among the targets of a punitive Queensland government crackdown on youth crime.
Data compiled by the community group Youth Empowered Towards Independence (Yeti) shows that half of the alleged victims known to the organisation – 19 of 38 children – have been involved in the youth justice system. The information supplied does not contain personal information or identify any children.
Three-quarters of the children are in the custody of the state child safety department or in the youth justice system.
Last week the Queensland supreme court heard a victim impact statement from one of the young victims of Ian Andrew Peachey, 52, who was jailed for drugs, grooming and sexual offences against eight children, all under the care of child safety, between 2020 and 2022.
The unnamed child told the court Peachey “saw my vulnerability and capitalised on this”.
“I often feel defenceless against the wrong I have come up against in this world, as if I’ve been stripped of my defences,” the child said.
“I now struggle with feelings of disgust, worthlessness and a belief at times of being inferior.”
‘Vulnerable kids’
The interview at the Cleveland youth detention centre is one of several delicate conversations detectives from the unit have had since early last year when a youth told them they had been sexually abused.
Police expect more people will be charged as other alleged victims speak up.
“They’re very brave for coming forward. We commend them for that,” Det Act Isp Jason Chetham said in June after another person was charged.
Chetham says investigators have worked hard to develop a rapport with these young people.
“They’re often very marginalised and vulnerable kids who don’t have a really good relationship with the police, to be honest with you,” he says.
The most serious alleged offenders are accused of giving drugs, including methamphetamine, to victims, and sexually abusing them, say police. At least four people are suspected of sexual offences against multiple people.
It is not alleged the 12 people acted together in a “ring” but police say some offenders knew one another and committed offences in the same locations and against the same children.
Police allege some children were incited by their alleged abusers to commit further crimes, and say they have uncovered evidence of such behaviour on mobile phones.
A ripple effect
Cairns has been an epicentre of the juvenile crime “crisis” in Queensland. Media have described the region as “crime plagued” and experiencing a “youth crime scourge”.
Children committing offences are frequently dehumanised by Facebook commentators who wish them dead. At the same time, “victims” have been granted an outsized influence on the debate, and the government response.
The notion that some children engaged with the youth justice system are also victims – allegedly preyed upon and exploited by adults – is at odds with the way these issues are most commonly framed in media reports and by politicians.
Genevieve Sinclair, the chief executive of Yeti, says she believes there are potentially “many more” victims who have not come forward because they do not trust police.
“Many of the same children who are committing offences are themselves victims,” Sinclair says. “In order to keep the community safe from youth crime, we especially need to concentrate police resources on addressing the drivers of crime.”
A source familiar with the investigation who was not permitted to speak publicly says winning the trust of the children, many of whom are sceptical or fearful of police, has been key to the case.
The strategy of detectives has been to speak publicly after each person is charged and to commend the bravery of the alleged victims, so that the victims feel confident they are being taken seriously.
This has had a ripple effect: those children tell their peers and service providers that the police can be trusted, which leads to more people coming forward.
Police suspect some of the people charged directed children to commit offences in exchange for drugs.
“Steal me a car and I’ll give you a point [of ice], that sort of stuff,” the source says.
“These kids don’t need ice or speed or extreme anger being put on top of everything else.
“When you look at the background of these really violent girls and boys, you start to understand why some of [their behaviour] might be happening.
“I’m not saying it excuses it, but it can explain it.”
Flaws in crackdown
The Queensland government’s youth crime strategy acknowledges the impact of abuse on the sorts of vulnerable children allegedly targeted by serial offenders in Cairns.
“It is well established that children and young people who have experienced trauma and maltreatment, particularly in cases of severe neglect or abuse, may experience developmental issues and reduced resilience, along with immaturity and impulsivity,” the strategy says.
“These factors increase the risk of offending and re-offending.”
That strategy – which is still formal government policy – prioritises measures to reduce the risk of abuse and keep children out of custody.
But in the years since the strategy was adopted, the state has introduced piecemeal and punitive policy measures in response to serious incidents and negative media coverage. These include overriding the Human Rights Act to charge children with offences for breaching bail conditions, and allowing their extended detention in police watch houses.
Sinclair says the situation exposes a fundamental failing in the state’s youth justice “crackdown”. Children who are the alleged victims of grooming and exploitation are, at the same time, being dealt with under punitive policies designed to arrest and imprison more young people.
While some police have been investigating operation Uniform Kalahari – and attempting to win the trust of young people who have allegedly been preyed upon – other frontline officers have been conducting “extreme high-visibility” patrols at places vulnerable young people are known to congregate.
Police told Guardian Australia that from 1 March to 22 August, police conducted 2,399 street checks in Cairns, resulting in 160 arrests of young people and 203 charges.
Drivers of crime
Researchers say there is a clearly-established link between abuse and subsequent youth offending; they say trauma-informed approaches might offer the best way to help young people and keep the community safe.
It often doesn’t seem as if the public debate in Queensland’s far north has taken into account what may be driving young people to commit crime.
But some believe there has been a shift in the debate. Perri Conti, a local business owner who works to help youth offenders and who says she herself has been a victim of crime, attended a public forum in August held to discuss opposition to a new youth detention centre being built in the Cairns suburb of Edmonton.
She says she was heartened to hear there was support for a centre that would provide an educational rather than punitive approach to youth offenders.
“People were saying: ‘We want an educational centre where these kids could be trained, be schooled, get an education, do farm work,’” Conti says.
“There was not one person who said: ‘Lock ’em up, throw away the key.’ We don’t want another Cleveland because we know that’s not working.”
On some of the city’s anti-crime Facebook pages, discussion has turned to Kalahari and the crossover between alleged victims and accused youth offenders. One group member, a victim of a home invasion, offered little sympathy.
“Sorry but two wrongs don’t make it right,” he said.
Another man responded: “It’s refreshing to hear an adult on this page admit that two wrongs don’t make a right.
“Many believe the opposite, and believe these children need to suffer further physical abuse to teach them a lesson. This isn’t the answer.”
