KEY POINTS:
Social workers and police are monitoring the parents of a baby boy left blind and brain-damaged following an alleged assault, after it emerged the couple have a new baby.
Andrew Wepiha, 24, was found not guilty on Friday night of intending to cause grievous bodily harm to his then three-month old-son, Ethan Tiaiti, in April 2006.
Ethan's mother Ruth Tiaiti, 22, had been charged along with her partner Mr Wepiha last year but the charges were dropped a month ago.
Ethan has been in the care of relatives since June and the couple have had supervised access with their son, through Department of Child Youth and Family (CYF) managed visits.
CYF was only told about the couple's second child -- whose sex is unknown -- when police informed them in the past week.
Detective Sergeant Stephen Nightingale told NZPA this week he would be writing to CYF with his concerns about the safety of the second child, and the environment the child was in.
Police had not seen the child and thought the couple were keeping it in hiding until the trial was over, he said.
A CYF spokeswoman told NZPA today staff would continue to work with police to ensure there was a joint response to the situation.
"We are working with police to ensure the best outcome, not just for the family, but for Ethan and his sibling, are met."
The spokeswoman said since Ethan had been admitted to Middlemore Hospital last year, CYF had worked with the family to ensure he was safe.
All decisions about Ethan's well-being had been decided in a family group conference environment and had been agreed on by his whanau, she said.
Ethan was taken to Middlemore Hospital on April 5 last year with brain injuries and bruising to his face.
The High Court in Auckland was told last week that Ethan had two skull fractures, which indicated repeated blows to the head, and bone chips at the base of his thigh bones, above his knees.
Medical tests showed the injuries had been sustained over a period of weeks leading up to his hospital admission and were not the result of one assault.
- NZPA
