Bunya Childcare: Maree Miller pleads guilty after boy burned

The director of a Blue Mountains childcare centre has said she would resign after a little boy suffered burns and blistering on his leg.

The director of a childcare centre has told a court she is planning to resign from her position after a boy suffered bad burns in an incident at her Blue Mountains centre.

Maree Nicole Miller, 54, of Kurrajong, faced Penrith Local Court on Thursday after the incident at Bunya Childcare Centre in Winmalee on June 3, 2019, and pleaded guilty to failing to ensure every reasonable precaution taken to protect children from harm as a nominated supervisor.

According to a set of agreed facts, a seven-month-old child was in the care of the childcare centre when a staff member used a bottle warmer to heat up the boy’s bottle.

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Bunya Childcare Centre has run in Winmalee since the 1980s, and has never previously been charged by the Department of Education. Picture: Google Maps

The child was on the worker’s right hip when she attempted to retrieve the bottle, but the bottle warmer was knocked over, spilling hot water on the boy’s leg.

The boy suffered a serious burn to his leg, as well as scalding and superficial blisters.

A lawyer for Ms Miller told the court she’d had a difficult time since the incident.

“Ms Miller has anxiety and panic disorder and she’s losing sleep – she’s had a difficult time,” he said.

“It’s her intention to resign from the position.”

A prosecutor from the Department of Education argued the offences were towards the middle range, but Ms Miller’s said they were towards the bottom of the range.

“It’s bad luck the water splashed on him in circumstances where the worker didn’t end up with any on her,” he said.

Bunya Childcare Centre continues to operate in Winmalee.

“The child’s parents were notified immediately, the department was notified, and significant assistance has been provided voluntarily.

“The childcare centre has been in operation since the 1980s and never had an offence like this, which is significant given the low threshold for offending.”

The lawyer said the incident was due to a “gap in policies”.

“This was not a wholesale failure to enact appropriate policies,” he said.

“None of the existing policies said ‘don’t hold a child while you prepare a bottle’.

“It’s that failure that gives rise to this criminal responsibility.”

Magistrate John McIntosh adjourned the matter to Blacktown Local Court for sentencing on May 7, saying it “needed some thought”.

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