Guard paid for silence on PNG sexual assault

7:38 pm on 7 July 2016

An Australian security guard was paid to keep quiet about an alleged sexual assault on a local worker at the Manus Island detention centre in Papua New Guinea.

The Manus Island Detention Centre in PNG

Staff accommodation block at Manus Island Detention Centre in PNG Photo: EMTV

The claim is in an ABC report that says the contractor Wilson Security made a number of separate payments of up to US$11,000 to at least one guard who was present on Manus Island on the evening of the alleged assault in July last year.

The worker was reportedly paid the money after being quickly removed the day after the alleged assault.

The money included the worker's remaining annual leave entitlements and was offered as a non-disclosure payment, meaning the worker could not discuss the incident, nor the work he was doing for the company on Manus.

Three security guards were accused of raping a female worker at the centre.

The Papua New Guinea police said their investigation had been hampered first by the removal of the guards from the country, and then by the centre failing to co-operate with the police.

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