The parents of a teenage girl who was allegedly raped by another patient in the psychiatric ward of Perth Childrens Hospital have launched a scathing attack on the response from the state's Health Minister.
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00:00 With a 13-year-old girl allegedly raped by another patient in Perth Children's Hospital,
00:07 WA's top cop has labelled the case horrific.
00:11 I think everyone that heard that story would have been appalled and shocked
00:15 that this has happened to a very young person in what we all believe to be a very safe place.
00:21 The teen was admitted to PCH in January 2022,
00:25 suffering from the mental trauma of being sexually assaulted by a stranger months earlier.
00:31 It's alleged in hospital she was raped again.
00:34 Police were called on the night of the incident and did a full investigation.
00:38 We did charge the 13-year-old offender.
00:42 The case was set to go to trial in the Children's Court last September before the charges were dropped.
00:47 Prosecutors and the alleged victim's family were reluctant to put the girl through a traumatic trial.
00:54 State Prosecutor Brad Hollingsworth told the court how vulnerable child witnesses
00:59 would usually be admitted to Perth Children's Hospital for psychiatric observation
01:04 before and after taking the stand.
01:07 In this case he said that would be effectively asking the teen to go back to the place
01:12 where her assault was alleged to have occurred, and that simply was not viable.
01:17 The Health Department's response included a critical incident review
01:21 and an investigation by the chief psychiatrist.
01:24 The victim's family says they're not satisfied,
01:27 and they dispute claims by the minister that they were offered multiple meetings,
01:31 with the girl's mother saying that was "utter bullshit" and she felt like she was being gaslit.
01:37 Amber Jade Sanderson says she's done everything in her power
01:41 to enact meaningful changes to ensure patient safety,
01:44 and if the family wanted to discuss the changes,
01:47 she was an open invite to meet with herself and the board chair.
01:51 Across the government there is obviously an understanding of the deep trauma
01:56 that this child has gone through, deep sympathy,
01:59 and the minister is taking this very seriously.
02:02 The Cook Labor Government have to stop drip-feeding information
02:06 and publicly release the two reviews into the alleged rape at Perth Children's Hospital.
02:13 The health minister says the recommendations of those reviews have been acted on.
02:17 [BLANK_AUDIO]