Child Protection Minister Rachel Sanderson reveals she was not told of other teen pregnancies, abuse court cases

Child Protection Minister Rachel Sanderson has revealed there were more cases of children in state care who have fallen pregnant or are involved in court cases that she was unaware of.

Child Protection Minister Rachel Sanderson has revealed there were more cases of children in state care who have fallen pregnant, or are involved in current court cases, that she was unaware of until recently.

Ms Sanderson has announced that a former judge would begin an inquiry into why she was not told sooner.

The new cases were uncovered after Ms Sanderson sought a briefing from the head of her department, after the revelation that the minister had been left in the dark about two 13-year-old girls in care who fell pregnant.

Ms Sanderson was not aware of either case until two men convicted of abusing the girls were sentenced in court.

She has announced that former District Court Judge Paul Rice would begin an inquiry into why she was not told sooner.

He will report by February 9 but Ms Sanderson has not committed to making the findings public, saying that was a decision for Cabinet.

SA Minister for Child Protection Rachel Sanderson. Picture: AAP/Kelly Barnes

Last week she asked Child Protection Department chief executive officer Cathy Taylor “to ring every single department office and make sure that I am notified of every single (similar) case” currently known to the department.

On Thursday, Ms Sanderson confirmed that Ms Taylor had reported further cases involving children in care that were before the courts, or that involved teen pregnancy.

Asked how many, she said there were “slightly” more teen pregnancy cases than she had been aware of and there were “a lot of cases” before the courts.

“The majority of cases are (dealing with) the reason why we’re removing children from their own family,” she said.

“It is a very sad indictment on our community but the majority of cases are their own family that have perpetrated against them.”

Ms Sanderson said she was now “fully briefed on all of the cases” and “satisfied that I will be reported to regularly”.

Opposition child protection spokeswoman Katrine Hildyard said she was “absolutely horrified” that more court cases involving children in state care, and cases of teen pregnancy, had not been reported to the minister until now.

“She is presiding over a system where children are being abused, children are becoming pregnant ... this minister just has to go,” she said.

Last Wednesday, Philip Edwin McIntosh was sentenced to more than six years in prison for maintaining an unlawful sexual relationship with a 13-year-old girl in state care, who he met in a Hindley Street nightclub.

Three months ago, Matthew McIntyre, 35, was jailed for two years for abusing and impregnating a 13-year-old girl, also in state care, who he groomed on a dating app.

The terms of reference for Mr Rice’s review were devised by the Child Protection and Attorney-General’s departments. They look at how staff report alleged criminal conduct against a child in care, whether those policies were in line with past inquiries, the failure to inform the minister of two cases and discipline for staff who failed to report.