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1 year ago
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A 12-year-old girl charged with the alleged stabbing murder of a 37-year-old woman had undertaken sex work for older men and was a 'time bomb everyone knew was going to go off and it did,' local youth workers told police.
Emergency services were called to an apartment complex on Barkly Street in Footscray on Thursday, November 16 where an older woman was allegedly stabbed to death at 2am.
Samantha Cafaro, a youth worker, had been keeping an eye on the girl and understood that she was selling her body to older men.
'What we'd heard in so many words [was] that she was selling herself to older men for money. When I first heard it, it was hard to believe,' she told the ABC's 7.30 program on Monday night.
Ms Cafaro said she called police seven times over the course of a year to report the situation but each time she was told that 'they can't do anything, they can't approach her, and they can't stop these men'.
Ms Cafaro's boss, Les Twentyman, said that the girl seemed like a 'time bomb' bound to explode.
Youth worker Samantha Cafaro had contacted the Victorian police seven times over the course of one year to get help for a 12-year-old girl who is now accused of murdering an older woman
Emergency services were called to an apartment complex on Barkly Street in Footscray where they found a 37-year-old woman who had been allegedly stabbed to death on November 16
Ms Cafaro told the ABC: 'This child has been failed every step of the way leading up to the most horrific of crimes in the most horrific of circumstances and now two lives are lost.'
With enough help and the right supervision Ms Cafaro believes that they could have gotten the girl back in school and prevented the older woman's death.
Ms Cafaro reported the girl to Mr Twentyman in November 2022 at which point they desperately tried to get her the help she needed.
Mr Twentyman has worked with young people in Melbourne's western suburbs for 30 years and said that Victoria's police, mental health and child protection services are severely under-resourced.
'It's tragic, it was a time bomb everyone knew was going to go off and it did... If everyone was doing their bit, this crime may not have happened,' he said.
Ms Cafaro last saw the girl one week before the alleged murder and since then government departments have been tight-lipped about the unraveling situation.
Ms Cafaro's boss, Les Twentyman, said that the girl was a 'time bomb' who was bound for self destruction, and that despite the fact she was selling her body police would not help
The incident occurred outside of the former Royal Hotel pub which is now understood to be a hostel and several sources claim that the girl had been undertaking sex work
A spokesperson from the Victorian government said that its thoughts were with those who were affected by the 'horrific situation', but that no further comment could be provided due to the active police investigation.
The Victorian minister for children and local representative for the area in the Legislative Council, Lizzie Blandthorn, also declined to comment on the matter.
The alleged murder of the 37-year-old occurred outside of the former Royal Hotel pub, which is now understood to be a hostel.
It is understood an altercation allegedly broke out on the upper floors which now contain apartments.
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