Three teenage girls have been charged following an alleged assault on a 14-year-old girl in Claymore, Sydney's outer southwest. Police allege the girls, all aged 13, stripped and beat the victim on Friday night and recorded the incident.
It is alleged the trio approached the 14-year-old at a bus stop in Claymore around 7pm. The victim was forced at knifepoint to the end of Longstaff Way where she was punched and kicked.
The assault escalated further once the trio reached their intended location. Police allege the girl was forced to strip before she was whipped with a phone cord while being recorded, before the trio left with her top, pants, shoes and mobile phone.
Emergency response was swift. PolAir was called to assist in a search for those allegedly involved, with three girls arrested a short time later in Claymore, and their mobile phones seized. All were taken to Campbelltown Police Station where they were charged.
The charges are serious. One girl has been charged with aggravated robbery with an offensive weapon, causing a person aged 14 years or over to make child abuse and possessing child abuse material. The two other girls have been charged with aggravated robbery with an offensive weapon and causing a person aged 14 years or over to make child abuse material.
All three have been refused bail to appear in a children's court later on Saturday, according to police. The case raises troubling questions about youth violence, the recording and sharing of assault footage, and the vulnerability of young people in public spaces.