A 17-year-old boy was found tied to a tree and seriously injured after allegedly being assaulted and left unable to move for hours in a disturbing case that police say was not random.
The teenager, who has not been publicly identified, was discovered in bushland near Townsville, Queensland, Australia, during the early morning hours of Saturday, July 18.
According to Queensland Police, a jogger found the boy zip-tied and wrapped in plastic off Cape Pallarenda Road.
Authorities said he had suffered serious injuries.
Senior Sergeant Dave Miles of the Townsville Child Abuse and Sexual Crime Unit told ABC News that investigators believe the teenager was first assaulted at a home in the nearby suburb of Heatley before being taken to the bushland and left there.
Miles said the boy was unable to move for more than five hours.
Police have described the alleged attack as torture and said they do not believe the victim was chosen at random.
“It’s concerning, from our perspective, the level of violence that was used and the way in which this young person was left in Pallarenda,” Miles said.
He added that torture is an unusually serious charge for investigators to encounter.
The teenager was transported to Townsville University Hospital in stable condition.
Despite being listed as stable, authorities said he suffered several broken bones and was forced to undergo multiple surgeries.
Investigators also believe a vehicle seen driving erratically and involved in a crash near the area where the teenager was found may be connected to the case.
Evidence recovered from that vehicle reportedly helped police move the investigation forward.
By Aug. 7, authorities said nine people had been linked to the incident.
Three suspects had already been charged, including a 13-year-old boy, a 14-year-old girl and a 35-year-old woman.
The 13-year-old boy, from Deeragun, was arrested on July 24.
Police charged him with deprivation of liberty, assault causing bodily harm while armed or in company, grievous bodily harm and torture.
A 35-year-old woman from Kirwan was arrested on July 28 and charged with the same four offenses.
She was also charged with driving a motor vehicle without a driver’s license.
A 14-year-old girl, also from Kirwan, was charged with grievous bodily harm, torture, deprivation of liberty and assault causing bodily harm while armed or in company.
Six additional people were taken into custody on Aug. 7 as police continued investigating the case.
Authorities have not released further details about the alleged motive or the exact relationship between the victim and those accused.
Police said the investigation remains ongoing.
As of Sunday, Aug. 9, Queensland Police had not announced any additional developments.
Demons among the people