In a major investigation the Bulletin can reveal the horrific failures of the Department of Child Safety and how their actions, or inaction led to the continued abuse of two young girls.

A report leaked to the Townsville Bulletin details just under a year in their young lives, two children who have suffered extreme abuse at the hands of those who should love them the most.

This is the story of girls A and B.

In 2018 the girls, who have been given different initials, were taken into the care of the department, along with their six other siblings, and went into foster care, a place, where for the first time they were likely loved and taken care of.

The report reveals the children had been sexually and physically abused and their mother had failed to protect them.

“Mum placed a child on the stove, severely burning the child’s bottom, which required the child to be hospitalised and undergo surgery,” the report read.

“The child required skin grafts and a colostomy.”

The children were diagnosed by doctors as being “severely malnourished.” The children were also not meeting their milestones and not getting the medical care they needed.

There is also allegations of sexual abuse at the hands of A and B’s siblings.

Cruelly, they were forced into visits with their biological family.

Reports of further abuse against A and B came to the attention of the department again in April 2020, during contact visits.

That initial report also details how withdrawn the children would become when they knew they were going to visit their family.

In another report in April, it states that A had a bite mark near her groin and red hand marks were seen on her thighs. The children had become withdrawn again.

In June, A became upset again when she found out they were going for another visit, she disclosed that her brother had been touching her.

“(A) disclosed that her brother … was the best tickler and when asked where he tickles her, (A) pointer to her vagina.

“(B) then also stated, ‘he puts them down my pull up too’.”

The report goes on to detail worsening sexual abuse at the hands of A and B’s siblings, including a note about a doctors report that confirmed “(A and B) have been interfered with, stating they have broken hymens and other visual signs of damage, including redness, swelling and bruising.”

In another report in September, B had been vomiting excessively and was taken to hospital. It was revealed she had an UTI, “as a result of the abuse last week.”

Then in January 2021, the reported abuse appears to start involving the child’s mother.

“ … went on to state that her mum made her do it to her brother. (they) also stated that ‘mum pulled (child’s) pants down and did the same thing.”

In February, 2021, B was reported to have been touching another child inappropriately.

The reports ends there, but the Bulletin understands the children continued to have visits with the family, the girls are scared, anxious, traumatised and now mirroring the horrific behaviour carried out on them to other children.

Child Safety know what’s going on, but they pushed for the girls to be reunified with their mother, stating “at the end of the day, reunification is what needs to happen”.

The department even bought the children Xbox’s to entice them to live with their mother again.

There was serious push back, but that wasn’t enough to save the girls, and the Department deemed the mother fit to care for them.

Both A and B were reunified with their mother in December last year.