Dubbo woman sentenced for taking child from custodian’s care
A young woman who was desperate to avoid her nephew going into foster care ran away with the child as Family and Community Services caseworkers attempted to place him with new carers.
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A 21-year-old Dubbo woman who went missing with her nephew for five days after caseworkers from Family and Community Services were in the process of removing him from the care of his grandmother has been spared a conviction in court.
The woman, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to one count of removing a child from the care of a custodian when she faced Dubbo Local Court.
According to court documents, the child was removed from the care of the woman’s sister on February 26 and placed in the care of his maternal grandmother.
On August 7, the child’s placement was reviewed and the grandmother was told he was to be placed in alternate care because of “a number of factors” that were contrary to the original placement arrangement.
The woman was at the grandmother’s home when caseworkers were explaining what was happening and she took the child into a bedroom.
When the grandmother later entered the room, she discovered the woman and child had left the home through the bedroom window.
Police were called and it was not until five days later the child and the woman surfaced at another grandparent’s home in Dubbo.
On August 13, the upset and apologetic woman handed herself in at Dubbo Police Station.
In court, the woman’s lawyer said her client had no criminal history and wanted to protect the child as she had seen children “taken” by Family and Community Services when she was growing up.
Magistrate Gary Wilson did not record a conviction and placed the woman on a conditional release order for six months.
“There’s proper means to go through,” he said.