Woman faces 21 charges of child abuse

A woman facing 21 charges of assault against five children has admitted she smacked them.

Tafailagi Su'a, 30, pleaded not guilty in Auckland District Court today to 13 charges of assault with a weapon and eight of assault on the children when they were in her care in 2008 and 2009.

Opening the case for the Crown, prosecutor Anna Longdill said Su'a regularly assaulted five children in her care with kicks, slaps and pinches.

She also assaulted them with various weapons, including a shoe, a belt, a vacuum cleaner pipe and a roll of plastic wrap, a jury was told.

All the children were under 14 when the alleged offences occurred between July 2008 and May 2009.

The children had been put into the accused's care in July 2008, after their mother seriously assaulted them on numerous occasions. They were removed from the accused's care a year later.

"This is a trial about child abuse," Ms Longdill told the jury.

Defence counsel John Mackey told jurors there was no corroborative evidence to support the allegations.

He said his client denied the allegations in her police interview, although she admitted smacking the children.

The Crown is expected to call two of the children, who will give evidence via CCTV. The trial was set down for four days.

- NZPA