Central Coast mum guilty of hiding shocking child abuse that left child disabled

A Central Coast mum could not explain why she turned a blind eye to the horrific abuse of her child that left the toddler severely disabled, a court has heard.

The mum will face court next month to fix a sentencing date. (File image)

A mum has pleaded guilty to concealing child abuse that was so bad medical experts likened the toddler’s injuries with being in a car accident or falling from “multiple storeys”.

The young mother, who cannot be named for legal reasons, faced Wyong Local Court on Tuesday where she pleaded guilty to concealing child abuse and failing to look after a child causing a risk of death.

An agreed set of facts states the single mum was living in Sydney until she formed a relationship with a man before moving in with him on the Central Coast in 2022.

She got a job and started working various shifts, leaving her toddler in the man’s care.

One morning she was changing the child’s nappy when she saw a large purple bruise covering both of the toddler's’ buttocks.

She texted her partner and he allegedly said he gave the child a smack because the toddler wasn’t listening but he didn’t think it was that hard and the “cold weather probably didn’t help”.

The child had bruises all of their body that were unexplained, the court heard. (File image)

The mother also confronted him about a bruise to the child’s face.

A few days later she got home from a shift and took three photo’s of new bruises to the child and sent them to her partner who allegedly replied “I shouldn’t be hitting him at all”.

The mum was arrested and taken to Wyong Police Station where she was charged.

She said it was obvious the child “bruises easily”.

On July 7, 2022, she had a Facetime call with the child while she was starting night shift and the toddler appeared ready for bed but otherwise fine.

But just 20 minutes later her partner allegedly rang his mother and her in a “panicked and distressed state” saying they needed to “come home quick” because the child had had a fall.

The man also allegedly rang Triple 0 and said he’d heard a “thud” and came into the child’s room to find the toddler “in a seizure like state”, unconscious and with a clenched jaw.

Paramedics arrived and found the child in “a deceased level of consciousness” before the toddler was rushed in a critical condition to John Hunter Children’s Hospital for emergency surgery to relieve bleeding on the brain.

When paramedics arrived they found the child in a “deceased level of consciousness”. (File image)

While paramedics worked to intubate the child, her partner turned to her and whispered “they’ve seen the bruises”.

“[The child] was seen to have widespread unexplained bruising to its face, abdomen, groin, legs, arms and back,” the facts state.

“[The toddler] was also found to have several retinal hemorrhages in both eyes and in multiple layers of the eye.

“These findings can be seen with mechanisms of injuries such as motor vehicle accidents or falls from multiple stories.”

The medical experts said while there were no obvious explanations for the child’s bruises or head injury, the retina bleeds were consistent with “shaking” a toddler.

“The victim’s injuries are likely to make [the child] permanently and severely disabled and likely requiring permanent disability care,” the facts state.

The mother was interviewed several times by police but the facts state she could not provide a reasonable explanation why she didn’t report the abuse earlier, which could have prevented the most serious injuries inflicted on July 7, 2022, the agreed facts stated.

She was refused bail to appear at Gosford District Court on October 8 to fix a sentencing date.

Meanwhile her partner has pleaded not guilty to seven charges of assault, causing grievous bodily harm and failing to care for a child at risk of death. He will face trial in March next year.