NEWS 03
THURSDAY NOVEMBER 17 2016
Sexual assault ignored
HAYLEY SORENSEN
A POLICE officer has been disciplined for dismissing sexual
assault allegations after the victim told him she had been
drunk at the time of the alleged
assault.
An account of the incident
detailed in the Ombudsman
NT’s annual report says the
woman originally spoke to a female police officer who had just
Officer reprimanded for careless treatment of victim
finished her shift, who arranged
for an on-duty officer to take
her statement.
According to the report, the
woman said the on-duty officer
“initially took the account seriously but, once she explained
that she had been intoxicated, it
became a bit of a joke for him”.
His report of the interview
indicated there was no evidence
as to the identity of the
woman’s alleged attacker and
that the woman did not wish to
press charges, despite the fact
she said she made it clear she
wanted the matter pursued.
It was found the officer was
“negligent, inefficient or careless” in his handing of her com-
plaint and failed to “treat the
matter and the complainant with
due seriousness and respect”.
Ruby Gaea co-ordinator
Samantha Chung said it could
be “devastating” for women reporting sexual assault to have
their story dismissed.
“If they’ve had the courage
to go in and report what’s hap-
pened to police it can be traumatic to have to relive it,” she
said. “To then have someone
not believe them, that trauma is
doubled.”
She said the woman’s experience was thankfully an uncommon one.
“There’s been a lot of training with police in how to inter-
view and take reports (of sexual
assaults,” she said.
Ms Chung said the woman’s
intoxication was irrelevant.
“No means no. If yes isn’t
said, it has to be determined the
answer is no,” she said.
NT Police wrote to the
woman to apologise for the officer’s inaction. Police did not respond to questions from the NT
News as to how the officer was
disciplined.
SUPER MOON
CAUSES SUPER
DARWIN TIDE
The Cullen Bay ferry terminal as seen from a drone
at the low tide mark of 0.12m as the gravitational
pull from the moon being closer causes extremes in
tidal changes
Picture: VIDOPS
EXTREME tidal behaviour was recorded this week, as unusual lunar
events influenced the ocean’s tides.
Yesterday, low tide dropped to an
extreme 0.12m at 1.14pm, the lowest
Darwin tide of 2016 according to na-
Tonight
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
V1 - NTNE01Z01MA
8pm
8pm
8pm
3pm
Jase Pawley Duo
Jase Pawley Duo
Nick Blackwell
Bridey Rose Duo
tional weather tracking website WillyWeather.
Tuesday’s low tide was just 0.29m
at 12.35pm, and today’s low tide was
expected to be 0.21m at 1.55pm.
Darwin astronomer Geoff Carr
said the moon had an influence on the
ocean’s tides.
The relationship between the sun,
the moon and the ocean was first explained by Isaac Newton in 1687. He
said ocean tides were caused by the
gravitational attraction of the sun and
moon.
When the moon is full or new, the
gravitational pull of the moon and sun
are combined, causing very high, high
tides and very low, low tides.