Light sentences in Australia rape appealed

SYDNEY, Dec. 10 (UPI) -- Sentences for sex crimes in Australia's aboriginal community were being reviewed after it was revealed that no jail time was given in the gang rape of a child.

Queensland government officials said they planned to appeal the no-time sentences given to nine men who attacked a 10-year-old girl and will also check on the sentences handed down for similar crimes in the Cape York Aboriginal communities over the past two years.

The Age said Monday that the defendants in the 2005 rape case had pleaded guilty but the judge ordered either suspended sentences or no jail time after saying the victim probably consented to the situation.

That reasoning didn't sit well with Queensland Attorney General Kerry Shine, who vowed to appeal the decision even though he admitted the passage of time made his chances for success less promising, The Age reported.