Starving child left to eat toothpaste

A woman who beat her 6-week-old baby so badly it was left with permanent brain damage had two of her other children removed by Child Youth and Family after allegations they were so hungry they had resorted to eating toothpaste.

Details of the claims can now be revealed following the 27-year-old woman's guilty plea in the High Court at Rotorua last week to charges of assault and causing grievous bodily harm. The woman, who has interim name suppression, will be sentenced on September 23.

A highly critical confidential report by the lawyer for two of the woman's other children reveals CYF was made aware of previous allegations of child neglect but still allowed her to keep her newborn baby.

Following the report to CYF from Tauranga lawyer Patricia Jones, the boy, 2, and the girl, 4, were taken from the woman's care and placed with a foster family. A source close to the family confirmed the foster parents had applied for custody of the newborn but their application had been declined. Instead, CYF allowed the woman to keep the baby.

He had been born prematurely and spent the first five weeks of his life in a special care unit.

Within a week of being returned to the mother's care he nearly died from severe head injuries. He had several facial injuries, severe head injuries from a fractured skull, and bleeding of the brain. The baby was transferred to Starship children's hospital and although he survived he suffered permanent brain damage.

He is now in the care of CYF.

The woman initially denied culpability, claiming someone else had caused the injuries, but last week she confessed and changed her plea to guilty.

In Mrs Jones' report, obtained by the Herald on Sunday, she said the woman had been starving both children. The 2-year-old weighed only 8.8kg and had shown no weight gain for over six months. His hair was falling out, his skin was scaly and transparent and he was unable to smile, she claimed. He was also unable to walk and had no speech skills.

Mrs Jones said a Tauranga paediatrician who had checked the children said the boy looked like a "Romanian orphan left alone in a cot without any stimulation".

"For most of his life the boy was neglected and abused to utmost levels of seriousness. The neglect is particularly sinister in the context of the significant degree of oversight and assistance given to the mother," Mrs Jones said.

"The evidence reveals a degree of willfulness in her behaviour."

The woman's other child, she claimed, was so hungry she would eat toothpaste - and would also refuse to leave the table, eating the crumbs of any food left.

Mrs Jones declined yesterday to elaborate on the contents of her report, saying only that the two children were now in "exemplary care" and were doing "exceptionally well".

Act MP Muriel Newman, who a year ago raised concerns about the case, said CYF and its minister, Ruth Dyson, should be held to account over the revelations. "This is one of the more dreadful cases of recent times. The warning signs couldn't have been clearer. The minister should be asked to resign," she said.

Ms Dyson - who a year ago defended CYF's handling of the case, claiming it "correctly assessed the risks" facing the 6-week-old baby - said she stood by her comments. She said a review had been ordered into the case and would be completed soon.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY