Chief Minister Michael Gunner ‘would have appreciated’ being told earlier about alleged child sexual assault in Karama

CHIEF Minister Michael Gunner has said he was not told about the alleged sexual assault of a child in Karama last week until ‘quite a few days after’, and he ‘would have appreciated’ being told earlier

Chief Minister Michael Gunner. Picture: Che Chorley

CHIEF Minister Michael Gunner has said he was not told about the alleged sexual assault of a child in Karama last week until “quite a few days after”, and he “would have appreciated” being told earlier.

On Monday, NT Police, Fire and Emergency Services media informed the public that a three-year-old boy had allegedly been raped by a stranger in the front yard of his Karama home – four days after the alleged incident occurred on Thursday evening.

NT Police and its media unit have defended the delay, saying the public didn’t need to be informed of the alleged incident straight away because the alleged offender had been taken into custody minutes afterwards.

However, on Tuesday, NT Acting Children’s Commissioner Sally Sievers said she had not been provided with information about the alleged incident in a timely manner.

Speaking on ABC Darwin this morning, Mr Gunner said he had also not been informed about the “heinous” incident until early this week.

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He said while he understood NT Police had been focused on catching the alleged offender, he believed government leaders and the public should have been informed a lot sooner.

“I wasn’t informed either. I found out quite a few days after the event,” he said.

“I can understand where the Children’s Commissioner is coming from.

“I also understand what police are saying. Their priority is catching the person involved, and I get it, they did that. But this is one of those crimes where I believe it’s important that people are told about it.”

“I, like the Children’s Commissioner, would certainly have appreciated being told.”

Mr Gunner said he had spoken to Police, Fire and Emergency Services Minister Nicole Manison about the delayed media response and expected she would communicate his concerns to Police Commissioner Jamie Chalker.

However, he rejected concerns that there was a communication breakdown between NT Police and key government figures.

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“In my opinion, it’s not systemic, it’s just one of those things … where they caught the person and then, it just didn’t happen,” he said.

“It’s a reminder that this is a very important thing, to tell people … I think that letting people know is important.”

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