Wyong Local Court: Mum sentenced for hiding shocking child abuse that left toddler disabled

A young mum has narrowly avoided jail after ignoring the terrible abuse of her own child, which experts likened to being in a car accident or falling from “multiple storeys”.

The woman, who cannot be named, was lucky to avoid jail after pleading guilty to concealing child abuse and failing to look after a child at risk. (File image)

A Central Coast mum has been sentenced for turning a blind eye to her partner’s horrific abuse of her child which left the toddler severely disabled, a court has heard.

The young mother, who cannot be named for legal reasons, faced Wyong Local Court on Tuesday where she was sentenced to an intensive correction order (ICO) for 25 months.

An ICO is considered by the court as the equivalent of a jail sentence but served in the community.

The woman was also ordered to perform 200 hours of community service and have no contact with her ex-partner.

It comes after the young mum pleaded guilty to concealing child abuse and failing to look after a child causing a risk of death.

The woman was arrested and charged at Wyong Police Station. (File image)

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.

The woman started noticing bruises on the child after she left the toddler in her partner’s care. (File image)

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

On July 7, 2022, the woman’s partner rang her at work in a “panicked and distressed state” saying she needed to “come home quick” because the child had fallen.

The child was flown to John Hunter Children’s Hospital in a critical condition. (File image)

The man also allegedly rang triple-0 and said he had 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 critical condition before rushing the toddler to John Hunter Children’s Hospital for emergency surgery to relieve bleeding on the brain.

The child underwent emergency surgery to relieve bleeding on the brain. (File image)

“[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 haemorrhages 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 storeys.”

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.

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.