Mum-of-five charged with child neglect after horror find in western Sydney home

A young girl has been removed from a filthy Western Sydney house and a neglect charge laid against her mother.

A mother-of-five has been hit with criminal charges after she allegedly allowed her daughter to live in a filthy house covered in cockroaches and human faeces, a court has heard.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons but is in her early 30s and suffers from a range of mental illnesses, allegedly left the young girl in soiled nappies and filthy clothing for extended periods of time inside the squalor-filled two-bedroom unit in western Sydney.

It is also alleged relatives saw bruising, scratches and red marks on the girl’s face and body on multiple occasions when they picked her up for overnight stays, according to documents tendered to the NSW Supreme Court.

The child was removed from the home in January by officers attached to the NSW Police Child Abuse Squad, who subsequently arrested the mother and charged her with child neglect.

The woman has pleaded not guilty.

The young girl allegedly lived in a house covered in cockroaches and human faeces.

She was remanded in custody for more than six months until being granted bail by Justice Richard Button last month.

As part of her bail conditions, the woman must report to police daily, abide by a night-time curfew, attend on a GP and cannot have any child or animal in her care.

According to court documents, the woman’s other four children had previously been removed from her care and she came to the attention of police as recently as October 2022, when she allegedly failed to report a serious assault on the youngest child at the hands of her then-partner.

The court heard police have obtained statements from the girl’s relatives, including a great uncle, a cousin and a great aunt, all of whom allegedly reported seeing squalid conditions inside the woman’s home throughout 2023.

It is alleged the aunt said on one visit the house was crawling with cockroaches, the basin in the bathroom was filled with filthy water and toilet paper and she saw human and cat faeces smeared on walls throughout the unit.

A mother-of-five has been hit with criminal charges after she allegedly allowed her daughter to live in a filthy house covered in cockroaches and human faeces, a court has heard..

During another visit, she allegedly noticed the girl had marks on her face consistent with ringworm, as well as burns on her hands and legs which the mother allegedly attributed to the child bumping into a heater.

According to court documents, the uncle allegedly reported detecting a “putrid” smell coming from inside the girl’s sippy cup when he went to pick her up one day in November for a scheduled overnight stay.

Upon investigation, he discovered “curled blobs of milky residue” inside the cup.

The uncle also said the girl’s hair smelt of urine, her clothes stunk and she was wearing shoes that didn’t fit.

In granting the woman bail, Justice Button noted she had longstanding mental health problems and that it was unlikely she would receive a jail sentence if convicted of the offence.

“We can appreciate that neglect to a child is obviously a troubling, serious offence,” he said.

“What’s alleged to have happened here is that she neglected a child very profoundly, and one appreciates … that was a direct result of her mental illness.

“I think it’s imperative that the applicant continue with medication at the discretion of [her] doctor and continue to get help in the community.”

The case will return to court in November for hearing.