Young girl abducted from Nightcliff playground, indecently assaulted ‘feared for her life’

A YOUNG girl snatched from a Nightcliff playground during last year’s Seabreeze festival before being dragged into the bushes and indecently assaulted ‘feared for her life’ during the terrifying ordeal, a court has heard.

A girl snatched from a Nightcliff playground and indecently assaulted ‘feared for her life’, a court has heard.

A YOUNG girl snatched from a Nightcliff playground during last year’s Seabreeze festival before being dragged into the bushes and indecently assaulted “feared for her life” during the terrifying ordeal, a court has heard.

Sebastian Ngurruwuthun, 23, pleaded guilty in the Supreme Court to abducting the 11-year-old and committing an act of gross indecency on her during the festivities in May last year.

The court heard the girl had gone to Sunset Park with her parents and younger sister where they met up with other families for a picnic and the children began playing in the playground.

After they arrived, Ngurruwuthun followed the children into the playground area and watched them playing before brushing against, bumping into and staring at the girl.

The case was heard in the NT Supreme Court. Picture: Che Chorley

Concerned by his behaviour, she went back to her parents but a short time later, after her friends ran off to play, leaving the girl momentarily alone, he approached her and said “Excuse me, what’s your name?”.

Ngurruwuthun asked her if she wanted “to play tip-tip over there with me” and pointed to an empty, darkened area away from the playground.

The girl told him no, saying “my parents don’t let me play with strangers and I have friends I can play with” but Ngurruwuthun put his hand on her shoulder and she started crying with fear before he covered her mouth as she screamed for help.

Ngurruwuthun then snatched the girl up, carried her out of the light, threw her on her back and indecently assaulted her while pinning her to the ground before a nearby resident intervened, responding to her terrified screams and Ngurruwuthun ran away.

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In setting a head sentence of four years and 10 months, Justice Judith Kelly read from a victim impact statement written by the girl.

“When my mum hugged me straight after the assault, I didn’t like it, I wanted to be free,” the girl wrote.

“At the time of the assault, I thought I was going to be kidnapped and I was going to die. I did fight back and shout and scream but I was scared that if I hurt him too much he would hurt me worse.”

In further passages Justice Kelly described as particularly sad, the girl spoke of how she is now scared of Aboriginal men “because it reminds me of what happened”.

“I did not feel like this about Aboriginal people before this happened,” she wrote.

“I feel that it is wrong to feel like this about Aboriginal people but I can’t help it.”

In a separate statement, the girl’s mother spoke of how “horrendously guilty” she felt that she was “not there to protect her”.

“We were trying to allow our children more freedom and build their self-confidence by allowing them to go and order their own ice creams and go and play with other children in the park,” she wrote.

“We thought that by making sure we knew where they were and telling them to stay together, they would be safe. We can’t let them have that same freedom now.”

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In setting a non-parole period of three years and five months, Justice Kelly said Ngurruwuthun showed no empathy “at all” for the “very brave” little girl and admitted she had “no idea what your risk of reoffending might be”.

“You were not moved by the child’s obvious distress when you first approached her,” she said.

“You tried to silence her screams and you persisted with your assault, despite the fact that she fought and struggled.

“You have never been convicted of any sexual offences before and you seem to think the whole thing was brought on by alcohol and cannabis but there is no explanation as to why you chose a little girl to offend against.”

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