Australian court orders female sex offender to get her pelvic region photographed

Police said they need the photograph to verify the victim's claim that the accused had a scar on her lower abdomen.

Update: 2016-10-23 09:26 GMT
(Photo: AFP/Representational)

Melbourne: A court in Australia ordered a woman, accused of sexually abusing a boy in 1990s, to get her lower abdomen photographed to verify his claim that she has a scar there.

According to a report in The Age Katrina Arredondo, 49, was a youth officer at Melbourne Juvenile Justice Centre in Parkville when she allegedly sexually abused the boy, a detainee at the centre in 1990s.

The victim, who is now in his 30s, had alleged that Arredondo sexually abused him when he was a detainee at the juvenile centre and also after he was released – between 1994 and 1995. He was 15 years old at time of the alleged sexual abuse and Arredondo was aged 27.

He first reported the alleged abuse in 1996 to a Department of Human Services worker. The victim also told the worker that Arredondo ​had a scar in her pelvic region, which he assumed was from an appendix operation. But, as he was not sure about the scar, the case was not pursued.

However, he made a police statement in January this year, claiming Arredondo had a mark on one of her breasts. Police then charged her with sexual penetration of a minor and engaging in oral sex.

Police submitted an application before a magistrate court seeking permission to photograph her breast and also her lower abdomen to verify the victim’s claims.

Magistrate court judge Johanna Metcalf gave the police permission to get a photograph of the accused's pelvic region, but not of the breasts, stating the victim's description of the mark was too vague.

She has asked forensic medical officer to photograph Arredondo's lower abdomen, which would be "less invasive" than photographing her breasts.

Arredondo’s lawyer Jacqueline Kennedy had earlier said the scar in her lower abdomen was from a laparoscopy, which was done five years after the alleged sexual assault took place.

However, Metcalf has ordered Arredondo to agree to get photographed within 14 days and if she fails to agree, "reasonable force" could be used to get the photograph.

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