Intellectually disabled girl prescribed a contraceptive implant for ‘ongoing’ sexual abuse in care

Sexual abuse against an intellectually disabled 13-year-old in residential care was so prevalent, she had to have a contraceptive implant.

A 13-year-old intellectually disabled child in state care was prescribed a birth control implant at the request of the Child Protection Department because of “ongoing” sexual abuse while in residential care.

The SA Civil and Administrative Tribunal has ordered the child be returned to her initial foster carer, despite concerns of a toxic, dysfunctional relationship, because she was suffering “more significant and ongoing harm” while in residential care.

In their reasons for returning the child to the foster carer, who had acted as her mother since she was three, the Tribunal noted the child had been sexually abused at least six times while in a government accredited facility by as many as four different people.

The abuse was so frequent and “ongoing” that the child had a contraceptive device planted in her arm to prevent her getting pregnant at the request of her carers.

She was also using drugs while at the care facility, throwing herself into traffic and repeatedly being sent to hospital for mental health checks.

A supervisor of the residential care facility told the Tribunal that the “whole state was in crisis” and that even on a good day “placement services struggle”.

The child was removed from her foster mother and placed in residential care in November 2021 when she was 12.

Between 2013 and 2021 there had been 18 care concerns raised with the department.

Many of those were unsubstantiated and the Tribunal said they placed little weight on most of the reports.

The most concerning was an incident in April 2020 where the foster mother slapped the child across the face. The department found the assault was substantiated.

She remained in residential care for more than 18 months until being returned to her foster mother in May this year.

The Tribunal accepted that there were significant issues in the relationship between the child and the foster mother.

However, the Tribunal concluded there was “overwhelming evidence that (the child) had suffered significant harm during her time in her residential care placement”.

The Department conceded that the child had been reported as a missing person, sexually assaulted and placed herself in traffic on multiple occasions.

Child Protection Minister Katrine Hildyard acknowledged the “significant trauma” the child had suffered and said the issues raised were “troubling”

Child Protection Minister Katrine Hildyard said the issues were ‘troubling’. Picture NCA NewsWire / Emma Brasier.

Child Protection Minister Katrine Hildyard acknowledged the “significant trauma” the child had suffered and said the issues raised were “troubling”.

She said providing implanted birth control to the victim of sexual abuse was “not a standard departmental” response.

“I have asked the new Chief Executive to re-examine this case to ensure appropriate processes were followed, appropriate actions taken and any opportunities for system improvement implemented,” she said.

Department chief executive Jackie Bray said she would re-examine the child’s case to ensure she was satisfied with the actions taken.

In August 2022, when the child was aged 13, a concerns notice was raised that the teenager had sex with three other young people, all under the age of consent.

In November she was raped by an ex-boyfriend.

In June she had unprotected sex with a boy who was also in care and said she was “sort of” forced into it.

On January 2, 2023, security cameras at the care facility filmed the child being abused for about 20 minutes while a carer was on the other side of the facility.

A senior administrator of the care facility who was called to give evidence before the Tribunal said the incident was “horrific” and an internal care concern had been raised as to how she was unsupervised for so long.

The sexual assaults were so frequent the child had a contraceptive Implanon device implanted in her arm.