The parents of a baby girl who waited several days to seek medical treatment for her broken bones, despite the urgings of a doctor, have escaped time behind bars.
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Childcare workers grew concerned about the 14-week-old girl's wellbeing when they noticed faint bruises on her face and chin after she was dropped off for her first day at the Bonython centre in October, 2014, court documents said.
The next day, a staff member noticed the baby's left leg appeared swollen and firm to touch and contacted the mother to say she needed to take her to a doctor.
The mother picked the girl up later that afternoon and told staff she would make a doctor's appointment as she had noticed the swelling the night before.
She contacted the home doctor service that night.
The doctor who examined the baby later told police he observed moderate swelling to the infant's left leg from the knee to ankle, but no evidence of trauma, abuse or negligence.
He told the woman and her estranged partner, who was the baby's father, that the swelling was significant and they needed to take the baby to hospital that night.
The next day, the doctor made a follow-up call to the mother who said the pair had not taken the baby to hospital and assured him they would take her that morning.
But they did not take the baby to the hospital that day.
The next morning the woman took the pair's other two young children to the childcare centre, where she lied to staff that she had taken the baby for treatment.
When she finally took the infant to hospital the next day, X-rays revealed the baby had suffered a fractured left leg and breaks to both wrists.
The mother told the doctor she was having trouble coping and suspected she had post-natal depression.
In an interview with police, the woman made excuses for not taking the baby to hospital and said she didn't think the injury was that bad and she hoped it would go away.
The mother later said: "I was a child care worker. I should have known better."
The father was also interviewed by police and told them he had noticed a dark pink line on the baby's leg, which appeared fat, but he thought it could have been a spider bite.
When asked why he didn't take the baby to hospital, he said he did not know.
The man and woman, who cannot be named to protect their children's identities, were charged and pleaded guilty to child neglect in the ACT Magistrates Court.
Prosecutor Anthony Williamson told the court this week that any sentence should send a strong message of deterrence that parents who neglected their children could expect to be severely dealt with.
"Right-thinking members of the community would get emotional and angry when confronted with the abuse of a 14-week-old baby who was so vulnerable and so dependent on its parents to care for it," he said.
The woman's defence lawyer, Michael Kukulies-Smith, said his client was in a state of crisis at the time of the offence and there was evidence of drug use and attempts to get help.
The father's solicitor, Jacob Robertson said the man accepted he should have taken the child to the doctor but pointed out the pair didn't consider the baby was in significant pain.
The court heard both parents were experiencing the consequences of their actions as they had lost custody of their three children except for supervised visits.
Magistrate Bernadette Boss said the offences were at the upper end of objective seriousness but acknowledged that, despite the fact her injuries must have caused significant pain, the baby did not appear to be "continually advertising its distress".
She convicted the pair and sentenced both to three months imprisonment, to be fully suspended upon each entering a 12-month good behaviour order.
