When Tracy Lee was just 15 years old, she allegedly became one of the first victims of a gang of serial rapists who went on to terrorise Sydney, brutally attacking young women and girls.
The ringleader was Bilal Skaf, who along with his brother, Mohammed, and at least 14 other men were convicted for gang raping at least six schoolgirls over several weeks.
But Tracy Lee’s case was never prosecuted. Tracy Lee, who spoke on the condition her surname be withheld, says police pressured her to drop her complaint and questioned whether she consented to the horrors she endured.
Tracy Lee said she met the Skaf brothers through a friend on November 15, 1999. The group drove around in Skaf’s car before stopping at a park in Punchbowl. Tracy Lee said Skaf took her into a toilet block, threatened her with a knife and, when she refused his sexual advances, called his friends.
Over 4½ hours, Tracy Lee said she was sexually assaulted by more than a dozen men with a gun and knives pointed at her. When she was finally left alone, she travelled from Punchbowl to Bankstown police station.
At the police station, Tracy Lee gave a brief statement. She said she offered police her clothes as forensic evidence, but said they didn’t ask for it. She grew up in foster care, and no adult was present; she felt police judged her because of this.
A sexual assault service expert certificate cited by this masthead found her physical injuries, including haemorrhages in her mouth, cuts on her lips, and bruises and red marks all over her body, matched her allegations.
Tracy Lee said she was interviewed over two days, again without an adult present. Police questioned inconsistencies in her statement, with the trauma affecting her ability to remember some details.
On January 17, 2000 – 10 months before the first of many charges would be brought against Skaf for other attacks – Tracy Lee said a detective encouraged her to drop her case.
No charges were ever laid over Tracy Lee’s allegations.
It took Tracy Lee years of therapy and reflection to understand what happened to her wasn’t her fault.
Karen Iles is a survivor of gang rape and director of Violet Co legal and consulting. She said some of her clients have experienced victim blaming or being turned away by police.
Iles is calling for compensation payments to be increased from $10,000, for victims to be paired with a lawyer from the start, as recommended by the Australian Law Reform Commission, and for a reform to the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission so complaints aren’t investigated by the same station where the complaint was made.
“One in four women has experienced sexual violence. The resources should reflect that,” she said.
Source: Bilal Skaf gang rape victim Tracy Lee recalls horrific sexual assault dealings with NSW Police