Canberra woman sentenced by ACT court to community-based order for neglecting children

The woman, who is not named to protect the identities of the children, pleaded guilty to two counts of child neglect and fronted the ACT Magistrates Court on Monday for sentencing.

The statement of facts reads that the neglect began in early 2018 when the children had no clothing or suitcases to take with them on a school camp.

Soon after, a school staff member noticed a decline in the children's appearances and school attendances, as well as observing them asking for food more and more.

"They were attending school in non-uniform clothing which was ill-fitting, damaged, dirty and they would wear the same clothing for days at a time," the facts state.

The staff member tried to contact the offender numerous times a week without success.

He then attended the family residence in Canberra and met with the neighbour, who helped look after the children while their mother was absent for about three weeks.

As the year progressed, the staff member arranged clean school uniforms and food for the children.

The school also provided two meals a day to them, the kids saying they were hungry by the time they arrived in the morning.

Their school attendance dropped and by mid-2018, Child and Youth Protection Services substantiated the neglect after the children disclosed they had to ask neighbours for food.

About four months later, the residence at which the offender and her children stayed was found "in a state of squalor" after she failed to pay rent.

Syringes were found and the place needed professional cleaning that took up to eight months to remedy.

The family then moved into an ACT Housing property and the offender failed to enrol her children in the local catchment area school.

With their school being 25km away and a lack of public transport, the children were absent for most of the 63 school days up until May 2019.

The boy lost 20kg, representing a 30 per cent loss, between November 2018 and April 2019 before he was taken into alternative care.

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The protection services gave the offender two $100 vouchers for groceries but during a conversation with the girl, she told them her mother had not returned home with more food.

In the latter part of 2019, an ambulance attended the ACT Housing property to try to take the girl to hospital because of "the multiple risks with abdominal pain and headache", but the offender told them to leave.

During term 4 of 2019, the girl attended school only once and missed 18 consecutive days.

When the protection services spoke with the girl, who had then been dropped off at her older sister's place, she said she was unwell and had numerous symptoms, including head lice, fevers, neck pain and a swollen jaw.

She was taken to the Canberra Hospital where she told medical staff she could not open her mouth more than half an inch for the past day due to pain, among other health matters.

A medical examination showed "extensive head lice" and "significant malodour".

"The head lice and nits infestation was described to be on every centimetre of [the girl's] hair and scalp," the facts read.

A mass was found on her neck, skin was wearing off around her ears, her fingernails were stained and dirty, and she had a urinary tract infection.

The girl, who spent 11 days in hospital, needed a haircut so staff could help remove the lice and nits. She also had an incision and drainage conducted on the lump on her neck.

In December 2019, police executed a search warrant at the offender's premises where they saw it to be "in a state of disarray and dirty", including maggots within the carpet of the lounge room.

"There was insufficient food resources within the house," the facts read.

The court on Monday heard the offender, in her 50s, attributed part of the complications to a lack of help from the children's father.

The court on a previous occasion found the offender, who was recently hospitalised, not suitable for a community-based sentence due to issues surrounding her son.

However, since that time, the issues have been resolved and an updated report found her suitable.

Magistrate James Lawton said "there's never really been a particular satisfactory explanation for the issues [regarding the neglect]".

For the two charges, Mr Lawton sentenced the offender, who had a troubled upbringing and extensive criminal history, to intensive corrections orders of 12 and 15 months, respectively, to end in February 2024.

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