Dylan Voller, one of the teenage boys whose mistreatment in juvenile detention was exposed by Four Corners, has written a letter thanking the Australian public for their support.
Voller was repeatedly abused in custody over several years, and footage of him hooded and strapped to a chair was among the most shocking images broadcast on the program.
On Tuesday evening, his solicitor Peter O’Brien released a letter written by the teenager, who remains in custody.
“I would just like to thank the whole Australian community for the support you have showed for us boys as well as our families,” Voller wrote.
“I would also like to take the opportunity to [apologise] to the community for my wrongs and I can’t wait to get out and make up for them.”
Voller also thanked his family, his lawyers, the ABC, Indigenous and human rights activists, and his friends.
A troubled teenager with behavioural problems, Voller has been in and out of juvenile detention since he was 11 years old. His offences include car theft, robberies and, more recently, assault.
This post originally appeared on ABC News.
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Top Comments
Hopefully this time he means it, otherwise next time instead of juvenile detention it might be adult jail, where if he displays the same behavior he will receive the same treatment. A new neighborhood and new/better friendship group is step 1
Poor guy. Brings a tear to the eye. I hope he survives it and manages to make some kind of life for himself. Surely he deserves a break now.
Dylan is already in an adult jail. He has been in an adult jail since he was 18, he's now 19.
There appears to be much more to this story than the heavily edited ABC version we saw. The fact guards have been acquitted of any fault in some of these incidents highlighted already suggests this.
Dylan has had more than 200 reports of attacking and spitting on guards while in youth detention. Directly before he was hooded and restrained to the chair, he had self harmed and had threatened to break his own arm.
Given his propensity for violence and spitting at staff, can someone suggest ways which guards may have dealt with this to effectively stop him?
It's a genuine question, while the hood and being bound seems absolutely awful, the staff have the right to protect themselves and an obligation to stop him self harming.