The Afghan-born 17-year-old, who cannot be identified because he committed the offences as a juvenile, spent two hours grabbing women, aged between 15 and 24 years, as he swam between the flags at Surfers Paradise Beach on January 16 last year.
The offending stopped when three of the victims approached the lifeguard on duty and he then notified police.
The teenager was initially charged as an adult because he had no birth records from Afghanistan.
He was sentenced today as a juvenile in the District Court at Southport after pleading guilty to nine charges of sexual assault and three charges of common assault.
Two of the victims, who were aged 15 years at the time of the offending, were present in court.
Victims approached in 'predatory manner'
Judge David Kent heard the Victoria-based defendant grabbed his victims on their bottoms, breasts and, in three cases, their vaginas.
Crown prosecutor Nick McGhee said the defendant was seen swimming up to his victims "in quite a predatory manner".
When questioned by...Read More HERE
Between this story and the previous there is a double standard. One society gives a pass to a member of a protected group for cultural difference when a law is broken. The other enforces its rules (religious mores) consistently without regard to the offender's background. I rather prefer the latter.
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