‘I know she’s brave’: Mum’s anguish as man charged over alleged schoolgirl assault
A mother says her 12-year-old daughter has been ‘deeply affected’ after allegedly being grabbed by a stranger while walking to school on the Gold Coast.
The mother of a southern Gold Coast student, 12, who was allegedly assaulted by a 21-year-old man while walking to school says her daughter is putting on a brave face but has been deeply affected by the alleged attack.
According to police, the girl was walking on a pedestrian footpath when, just before 9am on December 4, a 21-year-old Tweed Heads West man who was not known to her “allegedly grabbed her around the shoulders before releasing her and fleeing on foot”.
“The girl received some bruising during the incident,” the police statement read.
“Police commenced patrols of the surrounding area and at around 10.15am located a 21-year-old man at Kirra, taking him into police custody.”
He has been charged with assault occasioning bodily harm and will face Coolangatta Magistrates Court on January 12 next year.
The allegedly assaulted girl’s mum, who can’t be named for legal reasons, told this masthead her daughter was doing “okay”.
“She’s been distracted, we’re trying to keep her distracted [so she doesn’t] think about it,” the mother said.
“I’m proud of myself for raising a tough daughter, the way she responded to it was really good.
“I know she’s brave.”
However, the mother said she has seen a change in her daughter.
“She said she’s not scared, but she doesn’t want to do anything [like go to the beach],” the mother said.
The mother is also full of self-recrimination despite her blamelessness.
“I’m sitting here blaming myself, what did I do wrong?” she said.
She also revealed she was intimately familiar with the path on which her daughter was allegedly assaulted, and previously considered it to be safe.
“Everyone uses it,” she said.
The mother was full of praise for the support offered by the girl’s school, but said she was a little disappointed to learn via the media, rather than from detectives, her daughter’s alleged attacker had been charged.
“That pissed me off,” she said.
In response, a Queensland Police Service spokesperson confirmed the defendant had been granted bail on strict conditions and officers had been in contact with the family.
“The defendant was granted station bail on strict conditions,” they said.
“Police remain in contact with the victim’s family.”
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Originally published as ‘I know she’s brave’: Mum’s anguish as man charged over alleged schoolgirl assault
