Rayna Christensen and Christopher Hidden sentenced over child neglect

Video showing the squalid conditions of a neglected family’s home is among the worst a magistrate has seen, a court has heard.

A magistrate has told a court the footage of a neglected family home was ‘difficult to watch’ as she sentenced the parents over child neglect charges.

Rayna Yvette Isabella Christensen, 35, and Christopher Daniel Hidden, 39, appeared in the Port Adelaide Magistrates Court on Thursday, after pleading guilty to four counts of child neglect.

In her sentencing remarks, Magistrate Jayanthi Pandya maintained it was no environment for any child to be in.

“When spoken to by police, you stated the house was a lot worse than when you moved in several years ago, to be frank, it is very difficult to comprehend how the house could have been in a worse state than what it was,” she said.

“The video footage is difficult to watch.”

Chris Hidden pleaded guilty to four counts of child neglect. Pic: Facebook

Rayna Christensen was reduced to tears after he bail was revoked earlier in the week. Pic: Facebook

The court heard the Bowmans’ home was in a state of “squalor” with many of the rooms inaccessible due to broken furniture, rubbish, dirty nappies and clothing.

The mattresses the four children were sleeping on were deteriorated and soiled, there was animal waste on the floor, the toilets outside and inside were not working.

The sink was filled with rubbish while the food in the fridge was found to be mouldy.

It was also heard there were insufficient beds for the four children as well as Christensen and Hidden.

There were also seven to eight malnourished cats on the property and a rabbit cage in one of the child’s bedrooms.

On Tuesday, Hidden told the court the couple had been going through a rough patch at the time of the offending.

“We were overwhelmed, we acknowledged that it wasn’t good enough,” Hidden said.

“Physically and mentally we didn’t see a change in them at the time but it probably did impact them.”

The court heard after initial interventions with authorities, Christensen managed to clean up the property before it “all got on top of her because she was the only one doing anything”.

“You thought the toilet outside was blocked for a long time because there were so many people using it,” Magistrate Pandya said.

“Mr Hidden you would get annoyed because of the state of the house … you would regularly empty the toilet by hand because of the sewer issues.”

The nature of the offence was rated seven out of 10 by police prosecution.

“It’s difficult to understand how you both, as parents of children, allowed children who are vulnerable, innocent and trusting, to day in and day out to live in such filthy, foul and dire surroundings,” Magistrate Pandya said.

“They were exposed to a risk of a variety of harm, both immediate and long into the future in my view.”

The couple were sentenced to seven months and nine days imprisonment, wholly suspended for two years on a good behaviour bond.