‘Unspeakable trauma’: police in Queensland and NSW failed to investigate alleged gang rape of 14-year-old girl, records show

Police in Queensland and New South Wales failed to investigate a series of alleged sexual assaults against a 14-year-old girl, lost key documents related to the case, and later told the alleged victim that her formal statement had been "destroyed", a Guardian Australia investigation has found.

Legal sources say one of the allegations - a gang-rape attack by up to 15 teenagers and adult men in a Gold Coast hotel room in 1993 - is among the most serious ever reported to authorities in Australia.

Karen Iles came forward in 2004, in her early 20s, and made a statement to NSW police. It contained names, photographs and other identifying features of her alleged attackers; maps and locations of the alleged assaults; the names of witnesses and a co-victim; and contemporaneous evidence from her childhood diary.

Police records released under freedom of information laws show the case was assigned to Queensland detectives, but soon stalled due to inaction by officers in NSW. It then appears to have simply been forgotten in both states for more than a decade.

There is no evidence that a substantive investigation ever took place, or that named suspects and witnesses were ever interviewed or contacted.

In 2018, Queensland police told Iles they believed case documents, including her 2004 statement, had been shredded a few years earlier. A copy of the statement was unearthed last year, with no explanation.

Iles has waived her legal right to anonymity, in the belief that sharing her experience will help hold police to account.

"I naively expected that when I went to police as a 24-year-old that they would do something. That they would interview the boys and men who raped me. That they would contact my co-victim and witnesses. None of that ever happened," she said.

"The experience of reporting such unspeakable crimes, and having absolutely nothing done, makes you feel completely disbelieved.

"The sexual assaults themselves I have processed to a degree. It's the police that have caused me the most unspeakable trauma."

In September 1993, aged 14, Iles and her family went on holidays to the Gold Coast. During the trip she says she met a group of older teenagers on the beach and would run into them regularly.

In her statement, Iles alleges she was the victim of two sexual assaults by members of the group, who she guessed were aged about 18 and 20.

"I was very confused at the time so I didn't tell anyone," she says in the statement.

The following day, Iles alleges she was lured to an apartment in a nearby complex and raped by up to 15 teenagers and older men, including men she believes were members of a gang.

The incident is described in detail - for more than six pages - in the police statement. It is difficult to read.

As well as significant detail about the allegations, the statement also includes contemporaneous pages from Iles's teenage diary describing a young girl's shame at being attacked, fears she might be pregnant, and the breakdown of her relationship with her parents. One entry soon after the attack says: "I've lost my goal in life."

"I have not reported these matters before because I have been ashamed of that incident and embarrassed," she says in the police statement.

"When the event initially happened I was called a slut and it was such a bad experience I wanted to block it out of my life."

Iles alleges two more subsequent assaults by members of the same group occurred in NSW but these are not in her statement; she says she was advised by NSW police at the time not to include them.

Entries in police records systems - obtained via freedom of information laws - show what occurred after Iles walked into Redfern police station in March 2004 to make her statement.

A case file was initially sent to detectives from a Gold Coast child abuse team, and some basic notes were entered into the state records system. Officers then requested their NSW counterparts to "carry out some inquiries" necessary to identify potential suspects.

Months later, Queensland police were still waiting. An entry from September says "operational needs have restricted [an unnamed NSW detective] from being in a position to accommodate the complainant".

In April 2005, having not heard back for more than a year, Queensland police put the case on hold. They took no further action for another 13 years. The detectives assigned to investigate no longer work for the QPS.

The final entry in the Queensland police system from 2005 says: "No further action can occur in Queensland with this matter until inquiries have been carried out by NSW detectives. As a result [the] matter may be filed pending return of such correspondence. (If it returns at all)."

NSW police records contain no reference to any inquiries being made in the state, subsequent to the file being sent to Queensland in 2004.

Research shows most historic victims take more than 20 years to come forward. At 24, Iles approached police at a much younger age than most historical complainants.

The process is also retraumatising. At some points in her life, Iles has been determined to seek justice and has actively followed up with police; at others, she has not felt able to prompt police to progress in the case.

She has never withdrawn her complaint or indicated to police that she didn't want it pursued.

In 2018, Iles sought information from police in Queensland and NSW about the outcome of the investigation.

When she contacted Queensland police, they told her that her file was still listed as pending in the police system, but that administration staff at Coolangatta police station had inexplicably shredded her statement and other information in a case file.

Emails from a senior constable said he could find "no documentation" related to her complaint.

"As to why it was destroyed I am not sure and that is the information I received from the current administration officer. There are doubts as to the accuracy of that as well as there is no way of validating that information."

A letter from the NSW police said they had undertaken "extensive searches" for information but that a case file "did not contain any documentation".

"I acknowledge that an error in record keeping has resulted in a copy of your statement no longer being available from the NSW Police," the letter said.

Iles says being told police had destroyed the statement was "devastating". In August 2021, she again resolved to pursue the matter and was told by a Queensland police officer she would have to make a new statement if she wanted police to investigate.

Later in 2021, without explanation, police located a copy of Iles's 2004 statement and sent it to her lawyer.

The case was reopened briefly in 2021, then placed on hold again by police in January. The Queensland police service said in a statement they had shelved the matter after "inquiries failed to yield further evidence in order to proceed".

Police claimed they had attempted unsuccessfully to contact Iles's lawyer about the case in January. The law firm says it responded to police promptly.

"They've got plenty of material that has never been acted on," Iles says.

"I can find the perpetrators, named in my statement, on Facebook. Surely they can arrange to interview them. Surely they could try a little harder for such a serious set of crimes."

Angela Lynch from the Queensland Sexual Assault Network accused police of "an abject failure at every level" in relation to their handling of the case.

"This should have been a priority for any police officer. This is an allegation of a violent attack with multiple offenders, and Karen was a child at the time," Lynch said.

"Sexual assault services across Queensland have reports continuously from victims of violence about a lack of communication from police. Sometimes victims of violence aren't told that matters are not proceeding, they receive a perfunctory response, or they just never hear from police again.

"This is an issue of widespread concern, but despite the rhetoric, it's clear our system does not treat sexual violence as a priority."

The Queensland police service sent a response confirming Iles had been advised incorrectly that her statement was destroyed.

The case remains technically open in Queensland, but is not being actively investigated.

NSW police said they had conducted a review of the matter in December 2021.

"NSW Police understand that reporting sexual assault can be distressing and traumatic for victims - and it is always the choice of an individual whether to proceed with an investigation or not," they said in a statement.

Iles says she wants police held to account.

"I expect, as I think many in our community would, that police at the very least should have a minimum duty to investigate," Iles said.

"Especially for very serious crimes against children, such as aggravated sexual assault and gang rape. I think people would be horrified to think their child would be treated this way by police.

"As a 14-year-old I kicked, screamed and fought back. I was held down and gagged.

"If we are going to change young boys' and men's attitudes towards sexual assault, to get them to act respectfully towards women and to use consent, then women must have confidence that if they report to police at the very least they will be taken seriously."