Illawarra woman pleads guilty to serious neglect of partner’s four-year-old son

An Illawarra woman has pleaded guilty to neglecting her partner’s little boy, after he presented to hospital in a malnourished and semiconscious state.

An Illawarra woman has pleaded guilty to drugging her partner’s four-year-old boy with prescription medication at an Illawarra home last year. Picture: 9 News.

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A Unanderra woman has pleaded guilty to neglecting her partner’s four-year-old son after he was taken to hospital in a state of reduced consciousness last year.

The 30-year-old woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is in a de facto relationship with the boy’s mother, 29, and helped care for him at the time he was allegedly neglected and abused.

Detectives from the Child Abuse and Sex Crimes Squad began investigating the women after the little boy allegedly attended hospital on October 11, 2018, in a state of reduced consciousness and slurring his words.

According to court documents, doctors alerted police of the boy’s physical state, alleging he was severely underweight for his age, had restricted prescription drugs in his system and previous upper limb fractures.

It is also alleged doctors told police the little boy had presented to hospital on earlier occasions with the same symptoms.

Detectives executed a search warrant at the couple’s home the next day, where they seized prescription medications and other items relevant to the investigation.

Following further inquiries, the women were charged on November 20 last year.

At Wollongong Local Court on Wednesday, the 30-year-old woman pleaded guilty to fail to provide for child cause danger of serious injury, which carries a maximum of five years jail if prosecuted in the NSW District Court and two years in the Local Court.

Magistrate Michael Stoddart set the woman’s sentencing down for later next month, more than a year after the serious offence first came to the attention of police.

The boy’s mother, who is also facing a charge of failing to provide for a child or cause danger of serious injury, did not enter a plea on Wednesday and will face court again in October.

The little boy remains in the care of the Department of Community Services.

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