Australian: Technology may fuel recorded assaults
POSTED: 1:43 a.m. EDT, April 5, 2007
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CANBERRA, Australia (AP) -- Recent shocking cases of Australian teenagers raping girls then sharing images of their crimes via cell phones and the Internet will become more prevalent with the spread of technology, a criminologist said Thursday.

Five private school students, aged 17 and 18, were arrested in Sydney on Wednesday for allegedly raping a 17-year-old girl, then distributing digital footage of the attack taken with a cell phone camera to the phones of friends.

Police, who described the images as harrowing, were attempting to track down all the forwarded images, and warned the public that passing them on constitutes a crime, punishable by three years in prison.

The case has attracted national media attention, as well as comparisons to an incident last year when images of a sexual assault on a mentally disabled 17-year-old girl by a gang of teenagers near the southern city of Melbourne were posted on the online video Web site YouTube.

Bond University criminologist Prof. Paul Wilson said Thursday sex crimes and the sharing of recorded attacks will become more widespread. He said young males were motivated to distribute photographic evidence of themselves committing serious crimes because of their desire for peer group approval.

"The technology allows people to show off their exploits now, and clearly we're going to see more of these occur," Wilson said. "There are those who are still stupid enough to record memories of illegal acts like they were holiday snaps."

Wilson said one of the most disturbing aspects of the recent cases was the victims were "being harmed twice," as others were watching the rape scene after the attack.

"But the most worrying aspect ... is that there are young males who think sexual aggression is OK," he said.

The five Sydney teenagers charged with aggravated sexual assault of the girl in January were refused bail when they appeared in courts late Wednesday and Thursday. The charge carries a maximum of 20 years in prison.

Police have yet to make any arrests in last year's assault near Melbourne.