Maryborough mother says parents not to blame for youth crime rate
A Queensland mum who has watched her son spiral into crime and violence from the age of 12 says parents are not to blame for their children’s crimes.
Police & Courts
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A Queensland mother has given a heartbreaking account of her son’s downward spiral into youth crime and drug addiction, revealing she does not want another parent to experience what her family has gone through.
The mother, who must remain anonymous for legal reasons, said a combination of family troubles, untreated mental health issues and bad crowds had left her “prepared to walk away” from her son who is aged in his teens and has 13 criminal convictions.
“It is humiliating to talk about but even more humiliating to witness what is going on,” she said in an exclusive interview.
The teen’s spiral of chaos and violence, beginning with his parents’ separation at the age of five, turned him from a typical primary school student to a vulnerable youth by the beginning of high school.
This vulnerability was exposed at the age of 12 when he began stealing cigarettes and alcohol from the house of a close friend.
The Maryborough mother said it was this person who was responsible for exposing him to the beginnings of his bad behaviour.
Even at that early point, the mum said she tried to put preventive measures in place.
“I tried to remove him from the bad influence by moving schools, but when that friend moved to the same school it fell apart and the cycle started again,” she said.
The cycle would grow more disastrous and violent with each passing year.
From age 13 he was smoking marijuana and by age 14 he was living in a Torbanlea care home, which he ran away from after three months, cycling 25km back to Maryborough.
The mum said that by age 15, her son was “more often than not” on the streets surrounded by people a “child should not be surrounded by”.
“As he got older his offences evolved, progressing from stealing to assaults and weapons,” she said.
Now 19, his drug use includes methamphetamines, and he is serving an 18-month suspended jail sentence.
“The offences have been committed all over the Fraser Coast from Urangan to Maryborough to Howard,” his mum said.
She said she had been on the receiving end of numerous violent outbursts from him including when, only three months after having double mastectomy surgery, he punched her in her chest.
Along with this, there had been verbal threats like “I am going to punch you in the f-----g mouth” and “you cannot defend yourself if you wanted to, you f-----g c--t”.
“I have been ridiculed to the point of disrespect by both the justice system and the Department of Child Safety,” she said.
‘I WAS SCARED FOR MY SAFETY’
When she refused to take her son back into her care when he was 16, she said the social worker accused her of neglecting her duty of care as a parent.
“I was not; I was just scared for my safety.
“I have to install four security cameras across my property for me and my other son’s safety”.
The threats against her escalated to the point in August 2023, she had a prevention order taken out against her son.
“I would have done it before, but you cannot do it before they turn 18,” she said.
She rejected comments online criticising her parenting.
“I care for my two sons. I am not a crackhead. I am not uneducated, I am loving a mother.
“I have been made to feel as though I am the worst person in the world.”
The mother said her son had “refused all the opportunities” offered to him.
“He is responsible for his actions, and I wait daily to get a knock on my door from the police telling me that my son is dead because of (those actions),” she said.
She has been in contact with numerous officials on the Fraser Coast, including Bruce Saunders, Paul Truscott, Llew O’Brien and Bayside Transformations about alternatives that could help parents who must watch their children “falling off the cliff into crime and violence”.
“I have lost my child and no mother should feel like I do,” she said.
A Department of Child Safety spokesperson said the Child Protection Act 1999 prevented the department from commenting on individual cases.
“When a child comes into care, we support families to make changes that enable the child to be safely returned to the permanent care of one or both parents – wherever possible,” they said.
“Decisions about reunification to a parent are made by senior staff after assessing risk and safety factors and consultation with all parties.
“Of all the children in the child protection system only a small amount are known to the youth justice system.
“When a child in care has offended or is on remand, child safety officers works together will all involved parties.”
The spokesperson said there were 30 care workers attending to vulnerable children on the Fraser Coast.
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