Girl X rape scandal: Uniting Church’s Wesley Mission in charge of refuge where victim was attacked

THE Uniting Church’s Wesley Mission was in charge of the inner-west Sydney refuge where a “very vulnerable” 14-year-old girl was repeatedly raped while in state care.

• ‘Textbook case of how to traumatise a child’
• Residential foster care facility had visitors at all hours
• Girl X to authorities: ‘F*** the system’
• Teen victim pushed to very edge

THE Uniting Church’s Wesley Mission is the organisation that was in charge of the inner-west Sydney foster refuge where a “very vulnerable” 14-year-old girl at the centre of a week-long inquest was repeatedly raped while in state care.

After The Saturday Telegraph won a legal battle to lift a suppression order, it can be revealed that the 200-year-old mission was the ­operator of the centre, which ignored warning signs of the abuse of the now-deceased teen, dubbed Girl X.

Since The Telegraph exposed her shocking treatment, Wesley has refused to respond to the crisis, with chief executive Dr Keith Garner ducking for cover and spokesman Graeme Cole refusing to answer ­repeated calls and emails.

Rev Dr Keith Garner, Wesley chief executive, has refused to comment as the inquest has played out.

As a week-long inquest into the death of Girl X — who died from a drug overdose at another care facility just weeks before one of her Wesley rapists was due to stand trial — closed yesterday, they again refused to comment.

Board members including prominent executives such as Mark Scott, the newly appointed secretary of the Department of Education after leaving the ABC, have also refused to answer questions, directing inquiries back to Wesley.

One of the Wesley Mission staff members accused of Girl X’s rape escaped jail when the Director of Public Prosecutions dropped the 2012 sexual assault charges following the teenager’s death in April 2014.

‘Girl X’ died from a drug overdose.

This was despite the odds the DNA evidence that was found on Girl X’s underwear could have belonged to someone else being “100 billion to one”.

The DPP is now reviewing the case so “justice can prevail” following The Telegraph’s investigation.

“There were systemic failings that ultimately brought (Girl X) to drug abuse and a dangerous life.”

This is not the first time Wesley has been caught up in a child abuse scandal at one of its centres.

A statement on Wesley’s website admits to previous crimes at their facilities.

“We acknowledge, with sorrow, that some children in our care may have experienced: neglect of their social, emotional, spiritual and physical needs; physical violence, sexual or emotional abuse, emotional and social trauma and ongoing harm perpetrated by staff that should have been trustworthy,” it said.

Opposition spokeswoman for family and community services Tania Mihailuk said it should not have taken court proceedings for the identity of the provider, “who is the recipient of public money and tasked to keep these children safe”, to be made public.

On the final day of the inquest, Donna Ward, counsel assisting, said failures by Family and Community Services over years had exposed the girl to abuse.

“There were systemic failings that ultimately brought (Girl X) to drug abuse and a dangerous life,” Ms Ward told the court, which also heard Girl X was allegedly raped by two youth workers over a five-month period.

Deputy State Coroner Derek Lee is expected to hand down his findings in a week.