Malmsbury Youth Justice Centre riot: court hears of extent of alleged violence

A group of youths is accused of carrying out extreme violence, including with makeshift weapons, and forcing other male inmates to touch each other while they recorded the sex acts during a wild riot at Malmsbury Youth Justice Centre last month.

More than a dozen youths have been charged over the October riot at Malmsbury Youth Justice Centre. Picture: Supplied

Teenage inmates allegedly armed themselves with weapons, detained other inmates and forced them into disturbing sex acts during last month’s Malmsbury Youth Justice Centre riot.

Isaac Hindmarsh, Tdhoul Macha and Kolang Arop, all aged 18, as well as Malith Arou, 19, faced the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday each charged with more than 50 offences related to the October 3 riot.

Charge sheets reveal the foursome allegedly inflicted extreme violence using poles and a fire extinguisher.

They are accused of punching, kicking, stomping and striking the head of a victim to the point where he was “in danger of death”.

The foursome is also accused of making inmates “sexually touch” each other, threatening them into participating in sex acts as well as capturing the abuse and distributing it to others.

Other charges include trespassing, intentionally causing injury, detaining victims and threatening to seriously injure members of the centre’s Safety and Emergency Response Team.

Malmsbury Youth Justice Centre. Picture: Supplied

Thirteen teens were charged over the riot, in which attempts were allegedly made to escape the centre.

Among the youths is a 17-year-old boy separately charged over the murder of Sunshine boy Pasawm Lyhym, 16, in May.

It’s alleged a group of teens from Malmsbury’s Monash unit stole keys, swipe passes and radios and used them to access a restricted area where they armed themselves with weapons and headed to the Topez area where the violence unfolded.

The riot has raised questions about whether the Department of Justice and Community Safety could find itself legally exposed over what happened to the young detainees.

Cameron Doig, from Arnold, Thomas & Becker, previously told the Herald Sun the state was “almost certainly liable for the violence against a detainee”.

The court on Tuesday heard multiple “child victims” were involved in the alleged offending.

The incident was investigated by the Macedon Ranges Criminal Investigation Unit, which charged the teens on November 17.

Hindmarsh, Macha, Arop and Arou will face a committal mention on March 15.