Outrage over Kmart child attacker verdict as Peter Dutton calls for review
A man who abducted a seven-year-old girl from a Queensland Kmart toy aisle and sexually assaulted her in bushland nearby has been jailed for a maximum of eight years.
The mother of the young girl has been left “shaken” by his sentence, says child safety advocates.
Prominent child safety campaigner Bruce Morcombe spoke outside court, saying he “fears for the children of Australia” after Sterling Mervyn Free was given eight years in prison over the abduction this morning.
The man, Sterling Free, will be eligible for parole in August 2021.
Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has slammed the sentence as an “outrage” and has called on the Queensland Government to appeal the decision.
“You cannot have a young girl taken and put in a situation that no parent could ever imagine for their child,” he told the Courier Mail.
“For a child that’s sexually abused or abducted, for somebody to get essentially a penalty of about two and a half years is unacceptable.”
The 27-year-old father of twins lured the girl from the Kmart at Westfield North Lakes in December last year, but was sentenced today.
The 27-year-old man who lured a girl from Kmart before sexually assaulting her has been sentenced to a maximum of eight years behind bars. He will be eligible for parole in less than two years. Sterling Free’s statement has been read by his lawyer outside court. #7NEWS pic.twitter.com/qOObCLYJi7
— 7NEWS Sunshine Coast (@7NewsSC) October 10, 2019
Judge Julie Dick said Free’s offending was “every parent’s nightmare”.
Child safety advocates Denise and Bruce Morcombe read a statement on behalf of the girl’s mother outside court.
“While disappointed with the sentence, my daughter and our family are moving forward,” the statement read, according to news.com.au.
“The bar needs to be sufficiently high to say to these other people, these other creeps that are out there that have fascination about our kids, don’t go there or you’ll be locked up for decades,” he said. “I’m not sure this sentence does that.”
Free’s lawyer read out a statement from Free, saying that he was sorry for the “pain I caused her (the victim), her family and my own family and my children.
“I today accept the punishment imposed upon me by the justice system,” the statement read. “I do not wish to cause any further pain upon the young victim, her family nor delay justice any further.
“I cannot comprehend the pain I’ve caused her. I took away her innocence and scared her family. I hope that today my sentence provides her and her family some closure.
“I can only ever say sorry. I know this is not good enough. I cannot imagine the pain and fear I’ve caused. I can’t take that back.”
The mother of the young girl has released a statement herself, saying that despite her daughter being taught about “stranger danger”, Free had managed to trick her.
“My tiny innocent girl was well aware of stranger danger, however this person was friendly to her and tricked her into following him,” she said in a statement.
“No child should ever have to go through this type of trauma, and no sentence will ever be long enough to make up for the ongoing effects this will have on her.
“We, as a family, remain positive and are trying to move forward. We would like to thank the QPS, the QDPP and the Australian public for their support throughout this ordeal.”