Sentence review on Aborigine rape

(CNN) -- The attorney general in the Australian state of Queensland said Wednesday he is ordering an appeal of the sentences given to nine indigenous Australians who admitted gang-raping a 10-year-old girl but were not sent to jail.

In an interview with CNN, Kerry Shine also called "inexplicable" the judge's remarks which implied the girl was not forcibly raped. He said the prosecutor in the case had also been stood down pending a review of the case.

The ruling has sparked outrage in Australia, with the fallout splashed across newspapers and discussed on talk radio.

In late October, the six teenage boys and three men pleaded guilty to gang-raping the aboriginal girl in Aurukun, a remote aboriginal community in the northeastern state of Queensland.

The judge sentenced the juveniles to probation and did not record convictions against them; the men received suspended sentences.

Judge Sarah Bradley scolded the teenagers but said in court, "I accept that the girl involved ... was not forced and that she probably agreed to have sex with all of you, but you were taking advantage of a 10-year-old girl and she needs to be protected."

Prosecutor Steve Carter, who did not seek jail time for the nine offenders, also said the girl agreed to have sex with them, and he played down the teenagers' actions.

"They're very naughty for doing what they're doing but it's really -- in this case, it was a form of childish experimentation, rather than one child being prevailed upon by another," he told the court.

Shine, whose office was first alerted to the case last weekend by publicity surrounding the controversial sentence, said the case merits a review.

"I was very surprised when I read the transcript of the prosecutor's submission as to what it contained, as I was, really, of the judge's sentencing remarks," Shine told CNN.

"The law of Queensland says that any child under 12 can not give legal consent to intercourse. Therefore, the remarks of the judge are inexplicable to my mind, and hence the appeal."

Sentencing for indigenous criminals is a delicate matter in Australia because of high suicide rates among jailed aborigines. The Australian newspaper reported Wednesday that Bradley is "well-known in Aboriginal communities for her efforts to keep people out of jail."

At a conference in January, Bradley said indigenous offenders sometimes require "special consideration" because of their over-representation in prisons. Some aboriginals, however, strongly disagree.

"There is nothing culturally, there is nothing morally, there is nothing socially and there is certainly nothing legally that would ever allow this sort of decision to be made," said Bonni Robertson, an aboriginal activist.

"The buck stops there," said Maureen Ah Sam, an aboriginal spokeswoman. "There is no more making excuses."

Shine told CNN the penalties in the case were "manifestly inadequate," and newly-elected Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has said he is outraged.

"I'm horrified by cases like this involving violence, including sexual violence towards women and children," Rudd said. "My attitude is one of zero-tolerance."

Shine said aboriginal offenders should be treated the same as any other.

"These are most horrific circumstances and I hope that they would never ever be repeated again in Queensland," Shine said. E-mail to a friend

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