Schoolboys taunt sexual abuse survivor in cruel challenge

The girl confided in someone she trusted. Photo / 123RF

An Australian teenage sexual abuse survivor has been taunted by a group of Newcastle schoolboys as part of a horrifying Year 12 muck-up day prank.

Students at the selective Merewether High School in Newcastle were challenged to send the girl a message "defending paedophiles" to score points as part of a "scavenger hunt", the Daily Mail reports.

The 18-year-old, who was abused from the age of 4 to 10 by a family friend, had recently confided in one of the boys – who then betrayed her trust by coming up with the twisted challenge for his mates.

She was at home when she received a Facebook message from one of the boys saying, "I really think paedophiles aren't that bad."

"And why do you say that?" she replied.

He wrote, "Because my uncle was one, and I think he's a good bloke? Is there anything bad about that?"

"Dunno if you're taking the piss or not but surely you are not trying to defend pedos (right now) my guy," she said.

He replied, "No like everyone is human, we are all the same black white, pedo not pedo."

The teen, who can't be identified, first discovered what was going on when one of her friends at the school saw the list and told her.

The girl received this sick message. Photo / Supplied

One of her friends at the school broke the news. Photo / Supplied

Her mother told the Daily Mail her daughter was "sobbing [and] shaking" after receiving the message and felt "humiliated and exposed".

She decided to make a public post about the incident on Wednesday night, saying she wasn't ready to make it public but felt "all of Newcastle" would soon find out anyway.

"Shout out to [the student] for creating the Year 12 scavenger hunt list and making one of the challenges to message me and joke about me being molested by my uncle," she wrote.

"I trusted you with something private and you turned my trauma and pain into a scavenger hunt challenge for the whole of Year 12 to see and have the option to participate in. I'm beyond speechless on how someone can be so cruel and heartless."

She confronted the boy over his horrifying betrayal of trust. Photo / Supplied

The post attracted hundreds of comments before being removed by Facebook for violating community standards.

"It's okay for him to put it all around Newcastle and the high school that he went to, and for students at the school to have a hard copy of this challenge list and to contact my daughter, but it's not okay for her to post about it," her mother told the website.

The family rang the police on Wednesday night but were told nothing could be done.

The mother said her daughter, who has recently started university, was inconsolable.

"That boy has caused irreparable damage to [her] and to our family," she said. "We were finally starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel and now we're back at square one."

An Education Department spokesperson told the website they were aware of the post and were co-operating with police.

"The school understands that the posts are not from a student or students enrolled at the school," a spokesperson said.

"No students at any school, including Merewether High School, are to take part in any inappropriate or anti-social activities."

News.com.au has contacted Merewether High School for comment.