Opinion
Family says police failed to act on child sex report
A family member of the 12-year-old Tasmanian girl who was sold for sex claims the case was raised with police as early as September 2009 but police took no action.
The information is in the full report into the case by former children’s commissioner Paul Mason.
AM has obtained the full 66-page report and it contains allegations that had not been made public.
The child was sold for sex by her mother and a man called Gary Devine over five weekends in 2009.
The 12-year-old was advertised in the local Mercury newspaper as being an 18-year-old called Angela.
The child was a ward of the state when the prostitution took place, so the State Government asked Mr Mason to investigate and prepare a report.
Last October a 14-page version of the report was made public and the Government responded to it by saying its systems had failed the child.
In the report Mr Mason says: “Family members received reliable information from another family member that the subject child was Angela in the advertisement.
“The family member who received this information …