Northern Territory gripped by rape crisis as two men are set to be released after raping young girls

The tiny Northern Territory town of Tenant Creek has been rocked by the actions of two vile rapists who are set to be released from detention mere months after they were convicted of their horrific crimes.

Ezekial James, 28, who sexually assaulted a 12-year-old girl in a community near Tennant Creek in the Top End in 2017, causing her to fall pregnant, is eligible for parole only four months after he pleaded guilty to the grisly crime.

In another case close by, a teenager who raped a seven-year-old girl while he was out on parole for arson back in May last year is set to be released less than two months after conviction. 

Both cases have sparked outrage over the leniency given to the rapists. 

Two rapists who sexually assaulted young girls could soon be free mere months after they were convicted of their horrific crimes (stock image)

Sky News Australia’s Rita Panahi, who spoke to the network’s Darwin Bureau Chief Matt Cunningham who covered both crimes, relayed her shock.

‘Frankly, if this was happening in Melbourne or Sydney it’d be front page news,’ she said. 

‘It’d be leading the news service for a week.’

‘How can such horrific crimes see such lenient sentences?’ she asked Cunningham.

Panahi claimed there was difficulty in speaking out against these cases due to fears of being labelled ‘racist’.

‘How can we elevate these issues?’ she continued.

‘We’ll talk about it on this program, we’ll talk about it on Sky News but it seems so many people are terrified to broach this subject because there can be blowback.’

The pair referred to comments made by senator Jacinta Price on the network who suggested that ‘until there’s an end to domestic and family violence, there won’t be an end to these sorts of issues’. 

Both assaults took place at or near Tennant Creek (pictured) in the Northern Territory. One rape occurred in 2017 and the other happened in May of last year

Sky News Australia’s Rita Panahi relayed her shock over the appalling crimes on her program

Ezekial James pleaded guilty to raping a 12-year-old girl when he was 23-years-old in 2017.

He approached the child near a football ground at night and lured her back to his family’s residence where he assaulted her.

The victim returned to her grandfather’s home after the traumatising incident and discovered later on that she was pregnant. 

The girl gave birth at Alice Springs Hospital in August 2018 after being in an ‘extremely anxious’ state. 

Justice Barr described the girl’s situation as ‘horrible’ and the birth as ‘very traumatic for a young teenager who did not have the psychological resources to deal with the very stressful situation’.

James was taken into custody by police in December 2021, four years after the 2017 rape, when DNA evidence linked him to the child.

He has previously been in prison for multiple offences including two cases of aggravated assault against women and recklessly endangering life.

Justice Barr said it was unlikely he would reoffend before his sentence was suspended. 

Both James and the teenager were convicted and sentenced for the assaults at the Northern Territory Supreme Court (pictured) 

In the other case, a 16-year-old boy groped a seven-year-old girl while she was watching TV at a house in the Top End. 

The teen, who was out on parole for arson, then forced the child into a bedroom where he raped her.

The girl was later flown by the Royal Flying Doctor Service to a clinic in Alice Springs for treatment. 

She currently struggles to sleep, is too scared to go outside and wants to leave Tennant Creek. 

The boy was arrested four days later and was sent to a youth detention centre.

He pleaded guilty to the assault and was sentenced in the Northern Territory Supreme Court on November 30.

The boy, who is now 18, is set to be released from detention less than two months after his conviction.