This article discusses sexual assault, bullying and suicide. If you are struggling, help is listed at the end, and in Australia you can call Lifeline on 13 11 14 at any time.
Cassidy Trevan was a Melbourne schoolgirl who was sexually assaulted at 13 by a group of students, several of whom had been bullying her. The assault was reported to police, but no charges followed, and Cassidy lived for almost two more years with fear, flashbacks and continued harassment. She died by suicide in December 2015, at about 15. Afterwards her mother, Linda Trevan, found a letter Cassidy had been writing to warn other students, and shared it publicly together with her own message to the young people she held responsible.
Their story spread around the world in early 2017. It is still searched for today because it raises questions many families face: how bullying can escalate, why so many assaults never reach court, and what adults can do sooner.
Who Cassidy was
Cassidy lived in Melbourne. According to her mother's later public posts, the bullying was severe enough that she missed the final term of Year 7. The images in this article were shared by Linda on her Facebook page, where she has written openly about her daughter's life and death.
Reporting by New Idea in 2018, drawing on Linda's posts, described the attack: two boys assaulted Cassidy at a house while two girls who had bullied her waited nearby and another boy kept watch. Linda has written that, in her view, the person her daughter had been was lost on the day of the attack.
The police investigation
Cassidy was terrified of what the group might do if she gave a formal statement. The assault was reported, and early coverage said she and her mother had dealings with local police in Dandenong more than twenty times over the following two years. In the end authorities concluded there was not enough evidence for a realistic chance of conviction, and the case did not proceed.
Outcomes like this are painfully common. Cases involving young people, no physical evidence and witnesses who are friends of the accused are among the hardest to prosecute. That is not a reason to stay silent, but it is a reason why survivors need practical and emotional support whatever happens in the legal process.
For about 22 months, according to her mother, Cassidy lived with nightmares, insomnia, panic attacks, separation anxiety and post-traumatic stress, while some of the same students kept reaching her through phones and social media.
The letter she wrote
After Cassidy's death, Linda found an unfinished letter on her daughter's computer and gave it to news outlets, including Nine News in Melbourne. It was not addressed to her family. It was a warning to other students and parents at her school, written so that what happened to her would not happen to another child. In it Cassidy explained that she wanted "to warn other people (students mostly but also parents) about what happened". She urged anyone threatened in a similar way to resist and to look after their own safety.
The courage in that letter is the part worth remembering. Even while suffering, Cassidy was thinking about protecting younger girls she might never meet.
Her mother's message
Linda Trevan posted her own statement on Facebook under the heading "Bullying killed my child". She listed what her daughter had endured after the assault and spoke directly to the students involved, writing that she hoped they would "never forget the name Cassidy Trevan."
She has kept speaking since. When 14-year-old Dolly Everett died in January 2018 after relentless online bullying, Linda posted a tribute and a plea to other parents: "Bullying has to stop. It starts at home. Please teach your kids to be kind!"
Many strangers replied to her posts with condolences, their own stories and promises to talk to their children. A few of those comments are shown below.
How common sexual violence is
A figure often shared with this story says one in six Australian women has been raped. The most reliable current figures come from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Its 2021–22 Personal Safety Survey found that 22% of women, about 2.2 million, have experienced sexual violence since the age of 15, and 20% have experienced sexual assault. Most never go to police: around 92% of women assaulted by a man did not report the most recent incident.
Globally, the World Health Organization estimates that nearly one in three women has experienced physical or sexual violence from a partner or sexual violence from someone else. More than one in five girls aged 15 to 19 who have had a partner report partner violence. Young people are not a rare exception; they are among the most affected.
What parents and schools can watch for
Cassidy's story shows how bullying, sexual violence and online harassment can feed one another. No list can predict a tragedy, but these signs deserve a calm, private conversation and, where needed, professional help:
- sudden refusal to go to school, or a drop in grades and friendships;
- anxiety about phones or social media, or deleting accounts;
- sleep problems, nightmares, panic or withdrawal from family;
- signs that a group is targeting one child, online or in person;
- any talk of hopelessness or not wanting to be here.
Believe a young person who discloses abuse, keep them safe from contact with the people involved, and involve the school, police and a doctor or counsellor. Schools have a duty to act on bullying, and families can ask in writing what is being done. Teaching children to step in, or to get an adult when they see someone targeted, matters as much as teaching them not to bully.
Where to get help
- Australia: Lifeline, 13 11 14 (call), 0477 13 11 14 (text) or online chat, 24/7. 1800RESPECT, 1800 737 732, for sexual, domestic and family violence. In an emergency, call 000.
- United States: call or text 988, or chat at 988lifeline.org, for the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, available 24/7.
- Elsewhere: contact a local crisis line or emergency services, or talk to a doctor you trust.
Cassidy wanted her words to protect someone else. Sharing her story carefully, and knowing where help is, is one way to honour that wish.
Sources: Photos and letters shared publicly by Linda Trevan on Facebook; earlier coverage by True Activist and Nine News; New Idea (2018); Australian Bureau of Statistics: Sexual violence; WHO: Violence against women; Lifeline Australia; 1800RESPECT; 988 Lifeline.
COMMENTS