Family says CYF guilty in three-year-old's killing

By ELIZABETH BINNING

The family of a 3-year-old boy killed by his foster father say their tragedy is another in the catalogue of disasters involving the Child, Youth and Family service.

Michael Waterhouse, the Huntly man whom CYF entrusted with the care of Tamati Pokaia, was yesterday found guilty of manslaughter.

Enraged at Tamati bringing a bag of popcorn home from kindergarten, Waterhouse punched the child in the stomach.

A jury in the High Court at Hamilton took 3 1/2 hours yesterday to find 41-year-old Waterhouse not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter.

Tamati's grandfather, Eru Pokaia, said most of the family accepted the verdict, but Waterhouse was not the only person at fault.

"If the sentence was for manslaughter, then I believe CYF should be wearing that as well."

CYF says its investigations indicate proper processes were followed in Tamati's placement but is doing an internal inquiry. But Mr Pokaia yesterday told of the family's struggle to bring the little boy back into their lives.

He said CYF took Tamati, his younger brother Billy and older brother Nathan away from their parents in 2000 after Tamati broke his arm.

He said social workers jumped the gun after getting a call from Tamati's doctors about the injury.

"If all children were put in CYF's care because of a fractured arm we would have no children left."

Tamati's parents, Dionne and Tom, were told they could have their children back after they completed parenting courses.

The young couple did this, but Mr Pokaia said the children were not returned.

"Every time they met the task, CYF changed the goalposts."

In November 2001, CYF placed Tamati and Billy into the care of Michael and Maata Waterhouse.

It was the children's fourth foster home in less than two years.

Five months later, on April 29 last year, Tamati was beaten to death.

Mr Pokaia is angry that Tamati and his brothers kept being placed in foster homes when their parents desperately wanted them back.

Other members of the family had also offered to look after them.

The Huntly grandfather even applied to care for the children, and can't understand why he was turned down despite having completed a CYF caregivers course in 1999.

Mr Pokaia said CYF needed to reconsider its handling of cases. "There have been too many deaths right now, especially with children. All the deaths that are hitting the media at the moment are coming from CYF.

"I don't want my grandson's death to be a waste of time. I am just hoping someone has learned something from it."

CYF acting chief executive Brenda Pilott said the department was taking the death very seriously and was reviewing its management of the case.

"Before placing a child with a caregiver, Child Youth and Family checks out the suitability of that caregiver, including with police, GPs, schools and other people who know them."

Investigations so far showed that proper processes were followed when Tamati was placed with the Waterhouse family.

But the department had to consider "other matters" and would not comment on matters raised by the Pokaia family until its review was completed.

Mr Pokaia said yesterday's verdict allowed the Pokaia and Waterhouse families to move on with the healing process.

The two families united in a prayer after they left the court.

Waterhouse's lawyer, Ron Mansfield, said Waterhouse, a father of five, was relieved by the manslaughter verdict.

"He is relieved, but still mourning. He loved that child." Waterhouse will be sentenced next month.

A sorry catalogue

Child, Youth and Family has been involved in several cases with a tragic outcome. They include:

* Coral-Ellen Burrows: The agency admitted ignoring a call for help from the father of the slain Featherston 6-year-old, months before she was killed.

* Olympia Jetson and Saliel Aplin: Social workers failed to act for almost four months on Olympia's claims of sexual abuse by her stepfather, Bruce Howse. The girls were killed by Howse the day after CYF finally told their mother.

* Bailey Junior (BJ) Kurariki: New Zealand's youngest killer, found guilty of manslaughter at 13, was in CYF care at the time of the murder but the service had lost track of him.

* James Whakaruru: CYF was one of many agencies which failed to help the 5-year-old boy, beaten to death by his stepfather in 1999.