Wollongong District Court Judge Paul Conlon yesterday called for sweeping changes to the way police and the Crown handle evidence from child victims and young witnesses of crimes.Judge Conlon said he had become frustrated at what he described as the abstract manner in which children were often interviewed by police, or the Director of Public Prosecutions, and called into question the expertise of some of those carrying out the interviews."I appreciate it is a difficult area of law, but there needs to be a more honest approach because victims and their families need that," he said.Citing some recent cases, he pointed to the way authorities, California in particular, handled interviews with children."They would be horrified to see the approach being taken here," he said.His stinging criticism followed the Director of Public Prosecution's decision yesterday to drop the case against Illawarra teenager Justin Aaron Filipetti, who was facing a Wollongong District Court jury trial accused of tying up, gagging and raping a 12-year-old girl in June last year.Minutes before the trial was to start, Crown Prosecutor David Degnan told Judge Conlon a key witness in the trial had indicated she would not adhere to her original statement, and that there were a number of inconsistencies between the statements of the alleged victim and the 15-year-old witness to the alleged assault.Mr Degnan said he had sent a report on the matter to Director of Public Prosecutions, Nicholas Cowdrey, QC, on Monday, who then decided to withdraw the charges against Mr Filipetti.This prompted Judge Conlon to respond: "In my view this case screamed out for someone to scrutinise it very early."When are the police or the DPP going to understand that if young victims are going to be interviewed there has to be some expertise in conducting them?"I had time to review the evidence of both the victim and the young witness and their evidence appears poles apart."In this case, where a jury was to be asked to make a decision beyond reasonable doubt, the two versions could simply not stand together."Judge Conlon said when he was a Crown prosecutor in such cases, he would personally interview the victim, the parents and any young person required to give evidence, before deciding to go ahead.Mr Keenan, who had only recently taken carriage of the case, said that had not happened in the Filipetti case because of a chronic shortage of resources at the Wollongong DPP office last year.Mr Filipetti, 19, was initially granted bail by Magistrate Paul Johnson, but police appealed against the decision and it was subsequently overturned by the NSW Supreme Court.He has been in custody since, has twice been bashed and has lost partial sight in one eye.Outside court, Mr Filipetti hugged his barrister Jane Healy.Mr Filipetti told the Mercury the eight months behind bars had been a nightmare."I am just so relieved it's all over and that the charges against me for a crime I did not commit have been withdrawn."Now I just want to get on with my life," he said.