Frank D'Abaco says his 19-year-old autistic son Jayden is "broken" after being bashed by youths for the second time in two years.

Jayden D’Abaco, 19, had worked hard to get back the life he had before he was bashed on a Melbourne bus in 2017.

The bashing left the autistic teen from Tarneit, 25km west of the Melbourne CBD, struggling socially and afraid to go outside.

But through persistence and his mates at the local AFL football club he took back some control.

His father said Jayden is back at square one after being set upon by a group of youths described as African in appearance again while walking alone in Melbourne’s west on Saturday night.

“Jayden stays close to home. He only has a very small group of friends,” Frank D’Abaco told news.com.au today.

“So this, on Saturday night, has completely destroyed the boy. No-one will ever know what they’ve done to him mentally.

“He won’t leave his room. He hasn’t left his room since Sunday. He won’t speak. He won’t do anything.

“It’s happened to him twice and he’s broken”.

Jayden was attacked by eight men, described as being in their 20s, while walking to a nightclub to see friends.

He saw the group following him and, when he began walking faster, they ran towards him.

His father says he was punched and kicked, had a shard of glass dug into his forehead and was choked. His injuries include a fractured eye socket and significant bruising, but there are mental scars too.

Frank sat on the steps of Melbourne’s Parliament House dejected this morning. From 8am he waited for the chance to speak directly to Premier Daniel Andrews about an issue he believes the Victorian leader is ignoring.

“This guy doesn’t care,” he said, pointing towards Parliament House.

“When I speak, I speak on behalf of my family and all Victorians. This is not about me. This is about all of us. Your son, daughter, anybody.

“Every day of the week, Dan Andrews will tell you the crime rate is down. But the severity of the crime is through the roof and he won’t deal with it. Doesn’t want to know about it.”

Frank D’Abaco, whose autistic son was bashed by a group of African youths on Saturday night, says the 19yo won’t come out of his room. “He’s broken,” he told @newscomauHQ pic.twitter.com/LIk3WN7pXb — Rohan Smith (@Ro_Smith) August 28, 2019

He said he was “disgusted” by the way Mr Andrews had put the issue of youth crime on the shelf.

“I’m disgusted. He has shown me no respect. He has shown Victorians no respect.”

Mr Andrews last year committed to tackling youth crime in Victoria and to work closely with the African community in relation to incidents of violence committed by African youths.

But he lashed out at Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton when the federal MP suggested Melburnians were too scared to go to restaurants at night.

Victoria’s Shadow Minister for Police, David Southwick, told news.com.au the problem is real and it is time Mr Andrews dealt with it properly.

“I think, firstly, what’s happened to Jayden is horrific. It’s something that should never happen on our streets, but unfortunately it is.

“We do have a gang problem in Victoria and there is not enough being done by the Andrews Labor Government to address this.”

Mr Southwick said he wants to see more police patrols to prevent attacks like the one on Saturday night from happening again.

News.com.au has approached Mr Andrews for comment.

Police say they are following leads but have not made any arrests at this stage.

“Police are currently investigating an incident where a 19-year-old male was approached by approximately eight young people wearing dark clothing,” Senior Sergeant Samantha Ryan told reporters yesterday.

“He was chased by them for a short time, and was subsequently assaulted by them.”

She said it was a “cowardly attack” and one that was “spontaneous” and “opportunistic”.

The attack has left Jayden and his family asking why they were targeted not once but twice.

“Jayden just says, ‘Why me?’ … ‘Why me twice?’,” Frank told news.com.au.

“He doesn’t understand. He’s 19 years old, he’s autistic. They’ve destroyed him once, they’ve destroyed him twice.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

rohan.smith1@news.com.au | @ro_smith