This article contains disturbing content and references to self-harm.
‘The box’ is an isolation cell with no toilet, mattress or running water in Queensland police housing.
Footage obtained by a joint investigation by SBS The Feed and Guardian Australia shows children being placed in isolation cells in a state of disarray.
Sam* was led in an isolation cell after she was caught throwing toilet paper at a security camera in the guardhouse.
Sam is a 14-year-old First Nations girl from Cairns with a severe intellectual disability.
Her grandmother says she has the mental capacity of a toddler and the language skills of a three-year-old, and has therefore been found unfit to appear in court.
Video footage obtained after a year-long investigation by SBS The Feed and Guardian Australia shows Sam, then 13, became increasingly panicked after being taken to prison and tried to get out several times.
On the fourth attempt, her arm got caught in the door and she screamed in pain.
She was later taken to the hospital and placed in leg irons. Police reports indicate they were concerned her arm was broken.
Two months later, Sam was arrested, taken to the security center, and placed back in solitary confinement.
For years there have been human rights concerns about what happens to children in Queensland police homes. For the first time, this exclusive footage shows children in dire need in isolation cells.
Guardhouses are cells, often attached to police stations, built to hold adult criminals for short periods of time, particularly when they are drunk or disorderly.
But children, sometimes as young as 11 years old, are held there for long periods of time, together with adults.
Police teams have been set up to focus exclusively on juvenile offenders to tackle juvenile crime. One example is Taskforce Guardian in Queensland, which has arrested more than 1,400 children in the past year.
Last year, the Queensland government retroactively amended the state’s Human Rights Act to allow children to be locked up in youth detention centres.
According to advocate Katherine Hayes, the conditions in which children are held harm their chances of rehabilitation.
“We are aware of a number of horrific incidents that have taken place in security posts across the state.
“Young people being beaten up by cellmates or guards. Men exposing themselves to young girls or young children… When children come out of the guardhouse or the detention center right now, they are angry; they are traumatized,” she said.
Queensland Youth Justice Minister Di Farmer said the system had sufficient checks and balances in place to prevent and address abuse and maltreatment.
“I make no apologies for keeping the community safe.
“So if a young person poses a danger to themselves or to the community, then they are detained and placed in a detention center because a court has ruled that they should be placed there.”
Queensland Police have declined multiple requests for an interview, but a statement said when a young person is taken into custody, their physical and mental health are assessed.
Police would not comment on specific cases but said they were aware of the allegations and would investigate them.
With the election just months away, both parties in Queensland are promising to take an even tougher approach to youth crime.
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