the suicides of Cassidy Trevan, 15, Kirsty McGregor 13, Elizabeth Castro León 15, Jolynn Winter, 12, Chantel Fox, 12, 2 New Zealand girls 9 and 10, Nyah James 14

A Victorian mother has told of how her 15-year-old daughter committed suicide after a year of schoolyard bullying which culminated in the main perpetrator orchestrating her gang rape.

Cassidy Trevan was in Year 7 at a public high school in Melbourne’s south-east when she was set upon and bullied relentlessly by a group of girls, her mother Linda Trevan told Nine.com.au.

“The bullying started out with just insults and stuff and she got slapped across the face once or twice,” she said.

As well as waging their war on social media, the girls would follow Cassidy around at the local shops.

“Our fence got graffitied, banana peel on the front door mat,” she said.

The bullying became so bad Cassidy missed her entire fourth term at school in 2013.

After taking part in a recovery program, her daughter finally felt strong enough to return to school for two days a week in February 2014.

The girls who had bullied Cassidy said they were sorry, apologised to her and asked her to be their friend, inviting her to join them at the Springvale festival the next day.

It was there that her new "friends" executed a cruel and calculated act of betrayal, leading her to a nearby house where they had organised for her to be gang raped.

“They were older boys that Cass didn't know. Two girls who sat and waited. Two boys who shared her and timed each other. One boy stood guarding the front door,” Ms Trevan said.

Cassidy was only 13 years old.

Cassidy reported the gang rape to Dandenong police and spoke with detectives several times, but she was never able to bring herself to make a formal statement.

“Cass was scared to make a formal statement for fear of retaliation from the gang, and she also was worried reliving it would ‘push her over the edge’,” she said.

Ms Trevan said police told her they couldn’t do anything to bring the perpetrators to justice because “there's ‘no victim’”.

Cassidy had begged her mother not to go to the school principal about the bullying before the rape, out of fear it would get worse.

After the rape Ms Trevan did go to the school but was told as it was a sexual assault it was now a police matter.

Nine.com.au has contacted Victoria’s Department of Education and Training for comment.

Detectives from Victoria Police's Sexual Offence and Child Abuse Investigation Team (SOCIT) met with Cassidy and her mother more than 20 times over a two-year-period.

But they were ultimately forced to drop the case because of a lack of evidence and a victim statement, however counselling and victim support was offered.

"During those conversations the SOCIT detectives explained options, put protections in place and ensured the victim was receiving assistance from support services," a Victoria Police spokesperson said in a statement.

"They encouraged the victim in each interaction to make a statement.

"Throughout this time period the SOCIT followed up some other investigative leads.

"The victim declined at each stage to proceed with the matter. No charges were laid."

Ms Trevan tried in vain to resettle Cassidy in two new schools but her daughter was suffering from flash backs of the crime, panic attacks and PTSD.

In the three and a half months before Ms Trevan managed to move homes the bullies hounded Cassidy rentlessly, contacting her on social media and on her phone.

“I had to get an intervention order on the main bully girl when she physically assaulted Cass at the shops, after the rape, and she was even calling my mobile demanding to talk to Cass,” Ms Trevan said.

Laying bare her suffering publicly for the first time, and pointing the finger squarely at Cassidy’s bullies, Ms Tevan wrote in a harrowing Facebook post on January 29 that Cassidy never got over what her bullies had subjected her to.

Her beloved daughter’s suicide in December 2015 was a direct result of all she had endured, she wrote.

“I helplessly watched my precious child wither away before my eyes, mentally & physically, until she rarely got out of bed, until she could no longer take the pain and torment you caused her,” she wrote in the post.

“I know who you are, you know who you are, and the police know who you are. I hope the knowledge of what you did haunts you for the rest of your lives, and one day, if you are lucky enough to have children of your own ... remember what you did to my precious only baby, and imagine how you'd feel if someone did that to your baby.

“Cassy was my world, she still is and she always will be. But now I have nothing, and I'm still trying to find a reason to go on without her.”

Ms Trevan said she was coming forward to tell her story now because she wanted to send a clear message to bullies.

“I want the bullies out there to know that it’s not just a game. It costs lives.”

Read more at http://www.9news.com.au/national/2017/02/03/09/50/mum-speaks-of-melbourne-high-school-bullying-which-led-to-daughters-suicide#CExZl87ZgpdZ8tp5.99

A mother has spoken out about how her daughter, 13, was relentlessly bullied and then gang raped by two older boys before committing suicide two years later.

Cassidy Trevan was forced to miss out on her fourth term of Year 7 at a Melbourne high school after she was targeted by a group of bullying girls.

Her mother Linda told 9 News that the girls would slap her on the face, leave banana peels at the front door of their family home and regularly abuse her on social media.

Cassidy finally returned to school two days a week - where she was met with an apology from the girls, who asked her to be their friend and invited her to a festival.

But instead of going to the festival, the very same girls led her to a nearby house where she was subjected to a horrific gang rape that savaged her innocence.

hey were older boys that Cass didn't know. Two girls who sat and waited. Two boys who shared her and timed each other. One boy stood guarding the front door,' Ms Trevan told 9 News.

'Cass was scared to make a formal statement for fear of retaliation from the gang, and she also was worried reliving it would 'push her over the edge.'

In a heartbreaking open post on Facebook, Ms Trevan said she spent the next two years 'desperately doing everything' she could to keep Cassidy alive.

'I had to watch my baby suffer for the next 22 months from these demons,' she wrote online.

'She worried you would find her and get her again, she went through continued bullying from some of you who managed to get to her by phone or social media, via others, even after what you'd done to her.'

'She suffered flash backs of the crime, nightmares, insomnia, separation anxiety, panic attacks, PTSD and subsequent worsening mental illness.'
The suffering teenager moved schools to escape the bullying, but was subjected to further verbal abuse by the main bully online.

'I had to get an intervention order on the main bully girl when she physically assaulted Cass at the shops, after the rape, and she was even calling my mobile demanding to talk to Cass,' Ms Trevan told 9 News.

Cassidy and her mother met with Detectives from Victoria Police's Sexual Offence and Child Abuse Investigation Team (SOCIT) over 20 times during a two-year period.

But because Cassidy never made a formal statement to Dandenong police, afraid of the social repercussions, authorities were never able to lay any charges.

Tragically, after years of torment, Cassidy committed suicide on December 12, 2015.
'I helplessly watched my precious child wither away before my eyes, mentally & physically, until she rarely got out of bed, until she could no longer take the pain and torment you caused her,' Ms Trevan wrote.

'What you did to her was a direct cause of her suicide on 12th December 2015.'

'I know who you are, you know who you are, and the police know who you are. I hope the knowledge of what you did haunts you for the rest of your lives, and one day, if you are lucky enough to have children of your own ... remember what you did to my precious only baby, and imagine how you'd feel if someone did that to your baby.'

'I'm not a mean, angry, or vindictive person ... but what you kids did ... I hope you never forgive yourselves and never forget the name Cassidy Trevan. You all have blood on your hands for as long as you live.'

'Bullying killed my child, bullying must be taken seriously.'

'The death of any young person is an absolute tragedy and our sympathies are with Cassidy's family,' a spokesman for the Victorian Department of Education told Daily Mail Australia in a statement.

'Schools have a range of ways to help students who may be experiencing bullying or mental health issues, including by providing qualified counsellors. School staff work hard to identify and support students who need support and we would encourage any students who need help to talk to staff at their school.'

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Cassidy's school and Linda Trevan for comment.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4186636/Mother-speaks-daughter-s-suicide-gang-rape.html#ixzz4XddSYCUi

'Would anyone miss me?': Tragic suicide teen sparks care home probe after cries for help were ignored
The 13-year-old shared her struggle with depression and self-harming on social media before taking her own life just before New Year

Care watchdogs are to examine the death of a troubled 13-year-old girl who was living at a children’s home.

Tragic Kirsty McGregor died in hospital in Dunoon, Argyll , after being found injured at the town’s Dunclutha Children’s Home just before New Year.

It’s understood the keen dancer and gymnast took her own life.

She had shared her struggle with depression and self harming on social media.

A source close to the tragedy has called for a public inquiry into Kirsty’s death, saying valuable lessons could be learned in dealing with vulnerable youngsters in care.

The source said: “The system failed to keep this poor girl safe. She was a known self-harmer and she should have had extra care.”

Kirsty lived in Lochgilphead before moving to Dunoon in her teens. She was a second year pupil at Dunoon Grammar School and moved recently to Dunclutha, which has consistently received “very good” gradings by care watchdogs in recent years.

But Kirsty had shared a series of posts on her Facebook page about loneliness, suicide, depression and self harming.
In 2015, she posted a picture of a woman on a ledge with the words “would anyone miss me?”

She took her own life just days before New Year on December 30, 2016

Another picture she shared read: “I’m that one friend. The one who walks behind everyone else.

"The one that no one really notices in the group. The one that people forget to include. The one that is always there for others but never has anyone to be there for me.”

A well as sharing a video admitting to being self-harmer, Kirsty filled out a quiz online saying she had been bullied and admitting to feeling depressed.

The day after her suicide on December 30, friends shared pictures of the teenager and tributes.

One close pal wrote on a picture of Kirsty: “Gone but never forgotten.” Another added: “She will be missed.”

A police spokeswoman confirmed her death was not suspicious.

She said: “We can confirm that at around 3.40pm on Friday, December 30, police received a report of a 13-year-old girl being found injured within a property on Marine Parade, Dunoon.

“She was taken by ambulance to the Cowal Community Hospital where she later died.

“The girl has been formally identified and relatives have been informed.

“The death is not being treated as suspicious and a report has been submitted to the Procurator Fiscal.”

A review into the tragedy is being compiled by Argyll and Bute Council and will be sent to the Care Inspectorate, who will decide whether further investigations need to be carried out.

The Care Inspectorate said the case would be reviewed.

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/would-anyone-miss-me-tragic-9747325

A source close to the tragedy has called for a public inquiry into Kirsty’s death, saying valuable lessons could be learned in dealing with vulnerable youngsters in care.

As the summer school holidays drew to a close, two young girls, aged 9 and 10 are believed to have taken their lives in unrelated incidents.

A 10-year-old Auckland child died by apparent suicide at her home in Swanson, west Auckland, on Friday.

The Massey Primary School student's death has been referred to the coroner for investigation.

Earlier at the start of January, in an unrelated incident, a nine-year-old Kaitaia girl died in Auckland's Starship Hospital.

In the year ending June 2016, eight children aged 10-14 died by suicide, compared to 10 in the same age group during the previous year, according to the provisional suicide figures released by the Coroner's Office.

While one nine-year-old Palmerston North Girl's death in November 2015 was self-inflicted, in a ruling Coroner Carla na Nagara said the girl took an impulsive step to end her distress but did not intend to end her life.

In the year to June 2012, one child in the 5-9 age group died by suicide - the youngest since the Coronial Services Unit began collecting comprehensive suicide statistics in 2007.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/88969445/girls-9-and-10-die-of-selfinflicted-injuries

INDIO, Ca. -

"I don't know that I'll ever be the same again," says Dennis Blankenship, who is still reeling after running over the body of a 15-year-old Indio High School student on the 10 Freeway near the Jackson Street overpass.

At around 5:30 p.m. he says he was on his regular route delivering produce to Florida when he hit something, "As I went under the overpass I went to get into the far right lane and struck something lying on the road which I thought was an animal or something ... I noticed there was a boot further up the road at that point in time I thought, 'Oh my gosh, I think it was a person'."

Blankenship says he pulled over, grabbed a flashlight and ran back to the scene as his fiancee called 911, "I had my flashlight out there trying to detour traffic to keep them from running over her and they just kept on and kept on I couldn't stop traffic from hitting her."

Then he says he noticed papers flying everywhere and a backpack, when he picked them up, his heart sank, "I've got two little girls of my own when we seen the homework and everything and her name on the paperwork it just struck at home I mean devastating."

The Riverside County Coroners has identified the teenager as Elizabeth Castro Leon. The California Highway Patrol says people spotted her on the Jackson Street overpass and they're trying to figure out how she ended up on the 10 Freeway but say the drivers who struck her aren't at fault.

"Nobody's been arrested it's really just a very tragic, unfortunate event, these drivers it doesn't appear that they had a choice or a chance to avoid this ... along with feeling terrible for this little girl's friends and family we feel for these drivers of these vehicles that are kind of roped into this situation unfortunately it's going to affect them for a long time as well," said CHP Officer Michael Radford.

Blankenship says he wants people to know he was not the person who initially struck Leon and feels for her family and friends now dealing with her tragic loss,"My prayers go out to the family ... I couldn't imagine that being my child or the family it's just heartbreaking."

http://www.kmir.com/story/34197285/kmir-news-exclusive-truck-driver-coping-with-death-of-student-on-freeway-speaks-out

A grief-stricken mother from a northern Ontario First Nation is sharing the hate-filled social media messages her 12-year-old daughter received on the day of her death by suicide, in hopes of saving the lives of other girls in her community.

"If I'd seen those earlier, if she showed them to me, I think I could have done something, tried to talk to her, not to believe those words," Sandra Fox told CBC News.

Fox's daughter, Chantel, died by suicide early in January in Wapekeka First Nation, a few days after her friend, Jolynn Winter, also 12, died by suicide. Several other girls from the community, about 600 kilometres north of Thunder Bay, Ont., remain on suicide watch and at least two of them have also received messages encouraging them to kill themselves.

They appear to originate from three different social media accounts that parents from Wapekeka and social workers involved with the community believe originate outside the First Nation and may have been sent under false names.

"I'm just concerned so that it won't happen to anybody else's kid, what happened to my daughter," Fox said.

Earlier this week, Fox said she was worried that police weren't taking the matter seriously. On Friday, she told CBC News that officers had followed up with her.

"They're finally doing something," Fox said after a visit to the police station in Thunder Bay, where she signed release documents allowing officers to access the social media accounts on both of her daughters' tablets.

The mother of another girl, who is demonstrating suicidal behaviour, also spoke to police about messages her daughter has been receiving, Fox said.

A third girl from Wapekeka, also at risk of suicide, is getting the hate-filled messages, too, she said.

Provincial police will only say they are investigating, but refused to provide any further details.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/social-media-suicide-1.3963322

The heartbroken mum of a 14-year-old girl who 'killed herself' claims her daughter was being bullied on Snapchat and Facebook.

Nyah James was found dead in her bed at her home in Blaenymaes, Swansea, by her devastated mum on Monday morning when she tried to wake her for school.

Dominique Williams claims her "beautiful daughter" took an overdose of prescription tablets after being relentlessly bullied on the social media apps.

Now, the 43-year-old, whose wife, Suzanne, helped bring up Nyah along with her dad, David, want justice for her little girl as she claims the bullies need to "pay for what they've done".

She told Mirror Online: "I didn't see any signs at all. I only found out she was being bullied after her death.

"One of my step-daughter's cousins was told by another girl Nyah had been bullied - I'm aware messages were being sent on Snapchat and Facebook.

"Since then, a few people have come forward to say she had been targeted at school.
"Her phone has been seized by police who are investigating. Whoever is at the end of it need to realise what they've done - we need justice."

Mum Dominique says she had no idea there was anything wrong with Nyah.

The schoolgirl had come home from visiting friends on Sunday night and had asked to watch a film in her room.

At around 9.30pm when Nyah was sleeping she noticed her tablets had gone missing.
"I noticed the packet had gone missing that night. I texted my partner to see if she knew where they were, but she had no idea. We thought I must have mislaid them.

"I knocked on Nyah's door at about 7am to wake her for school. She was laying on her bed on her side with her phone in her hand. I called her and I had no response so I walked towards her.

"I could see the tips of her fingers were blue, her lips were blue and her face was white so I screamed and screamed for my partner Sue.

"We dialled 999 straight away.

"She knew how dangerous those tablets were. I just can't believe this has happened. She had so much to live for - she wanted to travel the world."

Paramedics put her into an ambulance and rushed her to hospital but Nyah's heart had already flatlined.

Nyah was achieving well and we were looking forward to her receiving excellent results at the end of year 11.

"Understandably since hearing of her passing, pupils and staff at the school are very upset and trained staff are on hand to support them.

"Our thoughts are very much with her family and friends at this very sad time."

Dominique said: "I just don't know what was going through her head. Teenagers shut you out. It's very rare you get to see into their life as they have their own little world - every day I told her I loved her.


"The bullying now has got 100x time worse - it's social media. Before, when I was a kid, you could come home and get away from the bullies. Now, the bullies are brought into the home so the child has nowhere to hide."


Dominique added: "They couldn't shock her heart as there was no rhythm. I knew then that she was gone."

The struggling mum-of-two said that Bishop Gore School, where Nyah was a year 10 pupil, was aware that there were issues of bullying - but she wasn't sure if they knew how bad the situation was.

She said: "There was a mention when we were in a review meeting about some potential issues. Nyah felt a group of individuals were talking about her in class. To the extent she didn't want to be the first person to leave the room in case she drew attention to herself."

A spokesperson for Bishop Gore School said: "Everyone at Bishop Gore School has been deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Nyah James who was popular with both her fellow pupils and school staff.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/heartbroken-mum-14-year-old-9775207

Her heartbroken mum, Linda, from Melbourne in Australia, has decided to share the letter on Facebook.

She said: “This process of getting Cassidy’s story out there has both destroyed me and given me purpose at the same time.

“I felt so ‘stuck’, I had to get it out there for her, like she wanted but couldn’t manage to do herself.”

She told Nine.com.au: “The bullying started out with just insults and stuff and she got slapped across the face once or twice.”



But she said her daughter's bullies made their hate campaign worse and attacked her on social media, forcing her to miss a term of school.

When she returned the group of girls apologised and invited her to a festival.

But instead of going to a party the girls asked her to come to an abandoned house where they organised for two boys to rape the young girl, Linda claims.

She adds: “They were older boys that Cass didn’t know. Two girls who sat and waited. Two boys who shared her and timed each other. One boy stood guarding the front door.”

Although the attack was reported to police, Cassidy was too scared to make an official complaint, her mum claims.

Detectives from Victoria Police's Sexual Offence and Child Abuse Investigation Team met with Cassidy and her mum and number of times before dropping the case due to lack of evidence.

In a Facebook post Linda told her child's alleged tormentors: “I helplessly watched my precious child wither away before my eyes, mentally & physically, until she rarely got out of bed, until she could no longer take the pain and torment you caused her.

http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/587864/Cassidy-Trevan-suicide-mum-gang-rape-letter-class-school-bullied-campaign-Facebook

Cassidy Trevan wrote:
'WARNING TO ALL STUDENTS'

I was a student at (school name omitted) and I was raped by some of the students who still attend that school. I know this already probably sounds like attention-seeking but it's honestly far from it. I have many reasons for doing this which I'll also explain.

My aim is to warn other people (students mostly but also parents) about what happened because I'm worried if they could do it to me they could do it to other kids like me, or at least try to. You actually have the power to stop this from happening. Remember the people who did this to me were school students at (omitted), it's hard to believe, I know. But it's true.

I'm not doing this for revenge to those students that raped me, set up the rape, bullied me about the rape, teased me about the rape or anything like that. I'm also not doing this for attention seeking like I mentioned earlier, I want to make that clear.

I'm doing this because over 1500 students years 7-12 are currently enrolled at the school and they need to be warned. I feel because of what happened to me, and because the staff at the school did nothing to help me (which I'll talk a bit more about later). It's now my duty to warn you all and to make you aware of what happened. (Not just what you may have heard around school but what actually happened.)

But I'm also doing this for myself. I want to finally after 1 and ½ years be left alone. It's surprising just how many students at (omitted) have heard stories of me and weirdly enough still get told stories of me to this day. I still continue to get students I've never met contacting me Facebook calling me a slut. I've moved schools, I've moved house and still I'm being contacted and bullied. I can't stop people from spreading rumours, but at least I could try and spread what really happened seeing as it's still being talked about anyway. But as I said this honestly is more so for students who are unaware of this and are in danger of those students.

My name is Cassidy Trevan, and I was raped.

If anyone every tries this on you trust me it's worth fighting! Fight! If you don't you'll regret it for the rest of your life like I do. You can do it.

Be careful. Be warned. Be safe.

-  Cassidy Trevan's warning letter to students at her school