The European family of a 5-year-old girl raped in a Turangi campground plan to return to New Zealand - and have left a generous gesture to the community that rallied around them after the December attack.
The assault on the young girl as she was sleeping in a caravan at Club Habitat on December 21 provoked an outpouring of national shame and left her family inundated with gifts, offers of support and more than $62,000 in donations.
A 16-year-old Turangi youth has admitted raping the girl and will be sentenced in Rotorua District Court later this month.
This afternoon, the girl's family announced they had donated $20,000 to go toward buying equipment for a new childrens' playground in Turangi, paediatric surgical instruments and items for the Waikids Ward 26 at Waikato Hospital and support for ECPAT Child Alert NZ Ltd and Victim Support Hamilton.
"We were amazed at New Zealanders' generosity. We in no way blame the Turangi community for what happened and so we wanted to give something tangible back," the girls' parents said in a statement released on their behalf by Waikato District Health Board.