A male refugee has been charged with the sexual assault of a young Nauruan girl, Nauruan police have said.
The deputy Nauru police commissioner, Kalinda Blake, told Sky News that police had been investigating since the alleged victim, a girl aged under 16 who is not in detention, reported the alleged attack about two weeks ago.
She had come forward to the police department’s domestic violence and sexual assault unit, Blake said.
“We are still gathering more witness statements and making the case more concrete before we take it to the [Department of Public Prosecutions] office.”
She said the man was about 30 years old.
It is not the first allegation of violence by a refugee or asylum seeker.
In December last year a six-year-old girl was allegedly sexually assaulted by a male refugee known to the family, also refugees. The parents, who said they caught the man in the act, accused the police of not acting swiftly or adequately to arrest the suspect, who remained in the community for at least several weeks after the alleged attack.
The Nauruan police force have been criticised in the past for failing to bring about prosecutions or convictions in cases of assault against refugees and asylum seekers.
Another case, which is about to go before the court, involving the sexual assault of a six-year-old refugee girl, is thought to be the first to reach that stage.
Blake said claims of assault made by refugees and asylum seekers were usually “fabrications”. She also said they withdrew complaints before charges could be laid against perpetrators.
The Nauruan government was contacted for comment but did not respond.