A 15-year-old girl was raped by a gang of five high school boys on a school excursion, police said yesterday.
Officers arrested the students - the youngest aged 12 - on their school bus as they returned to their western Sydney high school from Jamberoo Recreation Park on Thursday afternoon.
The girl, a local high school student also on an end-of-year excursion, and a friend reported their terrifying ordeal to staff.
The girl claimed she was surrounded by the pack before the youngest boy used his hand to assault her. She claims she was also sexually assaulted by a 15-year-old boy.
Fun park defends its security
A friend she was swimming with said she was also surrounded by the pack and allegedly indecently assaulted by the older boy.
Police sources said both alleged offenders were of Middle Eastern descent and attended a high school in Sydney's Western Suburbs.
Another three students arrested on the school bus as it climbed Mt Ousley near Wollongong were taken to Port Kembla police station.
They were later released pending further inquiries.
Superintendent Mick Plotecki said the alleged assaults were appalling: "I'm shocked by the ages of the youths involved and any right-minded person would be.
"It's appalling to think that boys of this age could be involved in something like this."
Jamberoo Action Park general manager Dax Eddy said the alleged assaults occurred in the park's Rapid River pool.
He said three girls from an Illawarra secondary school complained to park staff about 2pm. He said the complaint "fitted the description of indecent assault".
The girls were all from the same school and were among about 30 school groups visiting the popular South Coast tourist park on Thursday, Mr Eddy said.
The boys are believed to be Year 7, 8 and 9 students from an all-male secondary school in Sydney's west. Mr Eddy said a park supervisor was on duty at the pool at the time of the alleged assaults.
"It appeared that the boys and girls were part of a group of 15 or so that were swimming and involved in a bit of general horseplay," he said.
"The assault happened in the pool. We're quite disturbed about this."
The charged teenagers were granted conditional bail by police and are due to appear in Port Kembla Childrens Court on January 5.
