Queensland police and child safety workers failed to stop abuse of Indigenous girl, taskforce told

Police and child safety services did not intervene when contacted by the mother of a girl who was being abused by an older man, the report of Queensland’s Women’s Safety and Justice Taskforce said. Photograph: Dave Hunt/AAP

Queensland police failed to protect an Indigenous girl from sexual, emotional and physical abuse by an older man, despite her mother’s pleas for help, according to a report.

Police and child safety services did not intervene when contacted by the girl’s mother, and the community view was that the 12-year-old and 19-year-old were “in a relationship”, the report of Queensland’s Women’s Safety and Justice Taskforce said.