Teachers at Cranbrook reportedly called police after learning mobile phone footage of the attack had been shared among dozens of teenagers via a private Facebook messenger group. Court documents revealed that the girl had no idea she had been assaulted. "The victim was intoxicated by alcohol and was not aware of the offence until she was informed by other people by text message the following day," police allege. On Thursday Bidura Children's Court heard the boy's father has a high-ranking position with an Australian government department and is posted overseas. That country does not have a bilateral extradition treaty with Australia. The court also heard the father's employer "heavily subsidised" the youth's tuition and boarding fees at Cranbrook.

And the government would cover the airfares for the youth to fly to his parents' country of residence for a visit under "reunion" provisions. The prosecution argued a $10,000 bail to be posted by a relative was not enough to ameliorate the risk the youth would not return from overseas to face court. The court was shown text messages between the youth and his parents that the prosecution claimed "demonstrated that the young person intends to remain in [the overseas country]". But the youth's defence lawyer said while there was no treaty, Australia can request a person be extradited under a discretionary regulation. He said a text message from the youth's mother to him said: "Be strong, be honest, tell the truth."

The magistrate said it was a strong Crown case however he agreed to vary the youth's bail so he could travel to visit his parents during the coming school holidays. He said he was not overly concerned about the lack of an applicable extradition treaty because the father's employment with the Commonwealth would be jeopardised should his son flee the jurisdiction of NSW. "Frankly I don't expect that to be required because I'm of the view that the negative impact on the entire family of the young person should he not comply with his bail would be such as to be catastrophic for that family unit," he said. Under his bail conditions, the youth cannot contact the alleged victim and cannot go within 100 metres of her school, the prestigious private girls' Sydney Church of England Girls Grammar School (SCEGGS) in Darlinghurst. He currently lives interstate with a relative and is attending a local public school.

The matter will return to court in July. His co-accused, who was a student at Rose Bay Secondary College, has pleaded not guilty to charges of filming a young person committing a sexual act on another young person without their consent, producing child abuse material on his mobile phone and distributing that material on social media. His case will be mentioned in court on July 3. In an email to parents on March 21, Cranbrook headmaster Nicholas Sampson said the school would offer support to students who needed it. "You may be aware of a serious incident that is currently before the courts and has received media attention. This incident did not occur on school grounds," Mr Sampson wrote.