A SUMNER SENSATION.

NZ Truth, 4 January 1908, Page 4

A SUMNER SENSATION.

A TERRIBLE TALE JF TRUE. Three Scoundrels Seduce a Mere Child. What the Father is Said to Have Seen. .A. rather shocking case is reported from Sumner, near Christchurch, m which a girl under the age of consent was concerned. Incidentally three unprincipled Waekgiuuls w s :;3 concerned also, but for some unaccountable reason they have been , allowed to escape the punishment they so richly deserved. Sumner, it may be mentioned, is a favorite resort for • townfolk at this season of the year. The Sumner girl and her beau are to be seen there? m all " their .glory, men trip down per tram to enjoy the cool, refreshing bree7.es ;r arid to* sample, the befer. They charge, nothing for the breezes. ;% Others spend a month or. two there, ■'' either m houses .of their own. or \u ■■' rented places, or m tents. The trio alluded to above had a tent^ erects *■ and came to town daily to work, j-r- ' turning; to camp at night. All are < reputed to be well connected, one fellow exceptionally so, but that did ?;ofc ' prevent him committing a gross crime ' against society. He managed to ' pick up a girl m the city, a mere child aged about 15, who had stray- '' ed away from home and inveighed ' ; her down to Sumner where he had •two mates. How he* came to get ■; hold of her isn't known, but it was ! . no 'doubt a comparativelr easy raft" '' ter, because a girl m her positwj would be easy prey for the firff; scoundrel' that 'happened along. V.rt ■ mother is said to be ' ( r, IN THE ASYLUM at Sunnyside, and as lier 'father is At work all day working tor t-h« ' Christchurch City Council tbf» girl. ; wasn't kept under that restraint- ■-■ that she should have been. B<> lhafc.-. v <is it may home life v appears to - have proved too monotonous for her, and she saunterpd out arid apnew-s -.. to have struck vice m its vrcrsfc ; - form, for the scoundrel 'that she. met, ■lured her to. Sumner, :>'td ?or« a ; time she was common 'property for lr all three, so it is alleged. She w.'.s'.^ seduced right away, and.' fcho v.ih^ .- skunks used her for tkeir lustful t pleasure when she- -wasn't . o&bHng _, or cleaning up. for the baptv hf-urnls. 2 Now, fancy an experience of tin? t kind happening to a -young snrl nf 15. Yet it is so, and the detestable, Jam nable, abominable .-offence on the part of 'the dirty, low trio was not punished. Why remains a mystery. The father of the girl heard of l*er whereabouts shortly after she disappeared frtim home, and he nroceeded to Sumner to have revenge. But he appears to have bucked on <t, according (to all accounts;, for he ilidn't mete out the deserts to the vile destroyers of female virtue that' they 'merited. ' And this is all the"'* more surprisine: seeing that when he arrived at the tent one of the • scoundrels was actually tampering.'' with his daughter. His action was . unaccountable if what "Truth" hears is true. He put his head into the cent, surveyed the scene, and said, ;i Is. tea ready yet?" Then he proceeded to slash the tent to* pieces. The girl was removed to town, and was ' placed m the To Aqrauga Home. Now, why was it that the POLICE DIDN'T TAKE ACTION against these lustful bounders ? Didn't they, have a good case ? She was certainly under age at all events. What was the reason that the fath-f er didn't proceed and play hell and smash things ? He is at present absent, from Ohristehuroh, or we would soon know. He couldn't have bee» squared, surely ? It is certainly a. rotten affair— a grave scandal, and the rascals should have been exposed when it occurred. One woul<i like to know if enquiries were mad a by the police ; .also if the girl, toolc to the streets after being brought back home and was- shot m to T« Aoranga, the home of youthful harlots, liars, thieves and : bad eggs generally. This matter will hate to b« looked isto further. At* it is fc<H ing to be. , .