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Victim's Letters Handcuff Girl Victim Of Improper Relationship By Bruce Grundy (April 2000) A girl in care at the John Oxley Youth Centre at the time an inquiry into the centre was aborted inquiry was the victim of an improper relationship with one of her carers that has been described as "a profound violation of statutory requirements and professional codes of conduct". The girl was also the victim of inhumane punishment in the Centre. She was handcuffed overnight in the open to a tennis court. The writer has seen copies of letters written to a staff member at the John Oxley Centre by the girl who suffered the handcuffing punishment. At the time the letters were written the girl was in her early teens, had been transferred to the Wolston Park psychiatric hospital and was on remand awaiting trial for a serious offence. In addition to some personal, affectionate comments directed to her carer, the girl made a number of remarks critical of the detention centre and its manager. She said one of the letters she had written to her carer had been discovered and photocopied and she recalled that he had written a letter to her. Shortly before the handcuffing incident a senior departmental official noted on an internal memorandum that a staff member at the centre who had written a letter to "a 14-year-old girl in care" should have been the subject of disciplinary action. No disciplinary action was taken against the carer. Instead it was recommended that he be given permanent employment and his salary increments approved. Child welfare advocate and lecturer in Human Services at the Queensland University of Technology, Ross Daniels, said children in institutional care were highly vulnerable. "In such circumstances any improper relationship between an officer and a juvenile in care must be regarded as extremely serious and disturbing." He said any such relationship was a "profound violation of statutory requirements and professional codes of conduct". It is now also known that later, when the girl was given weekend release prior to completing her sentence, she spent the time with the carer concerned. She was seventeen. After her release she lived with the man for some time. They have now separated. Top 1462 page visits Content Management Software 2008