Craig Binnie and Mark Buttler
Herald Sun News
December 02, 2006
THE jailed father of a baby who was taken to hospital just minutes from death has won access to his other two children.
The three-month-old girl's horrific injuries included old and recent broken ribs, a torn tongue, a bruised head and a broken collarbone.
It is also suspected the father held the baby's head under water in the bath for up to a minute. She almost drowned after inhaling enough water to fill a liquid-paper bottle.
A Children's Court heard yesterday the baby also had fractures to her leg joints consistent with having her leg grabbed, twisted and dragged with significant force.
The man's lawyer told the court there was no reason the man should not have access to his sons despite the proposal being opposed by the Department of Human Services.
A social worker who has known the family for several years told the court she had heard one of the man's sons had asked where he was and that he wore his father's hat rather than his own.
She said she believed the children would benefit by having a continuing relationship with their father.
A doctor told the court huge force was needed to break a child's ribs and this type of injury was rarely accidental.
The doctor said that when this type of injury was accidental, it was commonly caused by a car running over a child and crushing the ribs.
The social worker said the longest time the father, who is about 30, had spent out of jail as an adult was about 18 months.
She said he was a long-term drug user, but that she did not think he was taking drugs now.
The man is now on remand facing charges of intentionally and recklessly causing serious injury to his daughter.
A DHS lawyer asked the court to delay access until after an assessment into whether the boys had suffered any emotional harm having possibly seen the abuse of their sister.
But the man's lawyer told the court that an assessment to examine the interaction between the man and his children would be useless because the man had been advised not to co-operate with investigators in case he incriminated himself.
The lawyer also said that child abusers commonly inflicted their abuse discretely, making it unlikely the boys had seen anything.
The magistrate said it was preferable for children to have access to their parents where there was no risk of harm.
He approved one hour of supervised access every fortnight.
Legislation prohibits the publication of names or details that identify the parties in Children's Court cases.