Sarina woman pleads guilty to assaulting child

A woman has avoided a jail term after striking a child so hard during an argument that it bruised the little girl’s face. Find out why.

A prosecutor pushed for jail for a Sarina woman who slapped her de facto partner’s seven-year-old daughter so hard her face bruised during an argument over a backpack.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, then told the child to lie and say she fell out of bed, before herself lying to police when she was questioned over the assault.

She shook as she sat at the bar table in Moranbah Magistrates Court as the facts were laid bare.

The incident occurred in mid 2021 when the woman was in a relationship with the child’s father and living in a Central Queensland mining town.

Prosecutor Tasman Murphy said as the child was getting ready for school the woman was asking about her backpack and the victim child “has been cheeky and talking through her teeth”.

A woman pleaded guilty to assault causing bodily harm after she struck a seven-year-old child so hard it left a bruise on the little girl’s face.

The woman became angry and lashed out, slapping the seven year old across the left side of her face.

The court heard the woman told the child if anyone asked about the bruise “to say she fell out of bed”. The child told a teacher who told detectives.

The woman initially lied to police when she was questioned about the assault and said “the child is being silly and standing on the edge of the bathtub brushing her teeth and fell” hitting the side of her head on the bathtub.

The court heard she later confessed the truth to the child’s father when he asked her about it.

She pleaded guilty to assault occasioning bodily harm.

Mr Murphy described the situation as “a 27 year old versus a seven year old” and that it was not a scenario where any disciplinary action was appropriate, pushing for a wholly suspended jail term.

But defence solicitor Sean Gibbs, of Fisher Dore Lawyers, successfully argued for probation and no recorded conviction.

Mr Gibbs said his client, who had a prejudicial upbringing, was genuinely remorseful and her mental health had deteriorated since the offending.

“She is taking steps to get on top of her mental health,” Mr Gibbs said, adding any penalty needed to regard her lack of any criminal history, “high” prospects of rehabilitation, young age and mental health issues.

“The community abhors violence towards children and that needs to be reflected in any punishment,” Magistrate Rosemary Gilbert said, agreeing to 18 months probation so the woman would be under supervision.

A conviction was not recorded.