Gold Coast teenager charged after female students ranked online

A Gold Coast teenager allegedly linked to online posts that ranked female students into offensive categories has been charged by police.

Police with the child protection unit had been investigating the incident, in which the Foxwell State Secondary College girls were ranked into categories including “abduction material”, “one night stand”, “average”, “preorder”, and “unrapeable”, since it was first reported on May 29.

The 17-year-old boy from Coomera has since been charged by police with three counts of using a carriage service to menace, harass, or cause offence.

The 17-year-old boy has been charged after online posts that ranked female students.Credit: Wayne Taylor

Senior Sergeant Greg Aubort urged the Gold Coast community to remain vigilant and report any instances of cyberbullying or online harassment.

“Such behaviour not only affects the well-being of individuals but also carries significant legal ramifications,” he said.

At the time, the Queensland Education Department said the school had acted immediately to have the post removed and was working with affected students and their families.

The department’s investigation indicated the post was not made by a member of Foxwell State Secondary College.

Under Queensland law, children aged 17 and younger are considered juveniles and face a Childrens Court.

Depending on the child’s history and the offence, judges and magistrates in the Childrens Court can hand down a range of orders to juveniles during sentencing, including fines, good behaviour orders, or detention. Children are also often dealt with under the restorative justice process, or through other diversionary measures.

A magistrate must also consider the child’s rights, whether they have a history of offending and the need to protect the community, and whether jail is the appropriate sentence.

Queensland Premier Steven Miles said at the time that “girls should not experience being spoken about in that way”.

“It goes again to the scourge of social media and the impact it is having on young people ... It is something I am very concerned about.”

The Gold Coast teenager’s post came after a similar incident at Victoria’s Yarra Valley Grammar School. Four boys were later suspended over the spreadsheet that ranked female peers.

It included the same category of “unrapeable” and others such as “wifeys”, “cuties” and “object”.

The incident was reported to Victoria Police who said investigators would assess whether it was a “matter for police”.

In a separate incident, a teenage boy was arrested after fake nude images of 50 girls at a regional Victorian private school were shared on social media.

Faces of the girls, in years 9 to 12 at Bacchus Marsh Grammar, were used in images of nudes generated by artificial intelligence and put on Instagram, then shared by students on Snapchat, the school has confirmed.

Police said a male teenager had been arrested over the incident and released pending further inquiries.

Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service at 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732).