Toddler found walking alone near Hume Highway
A 22-month-old boy opened the front door of his family daycare in Bass Hill and was later found walking alone near the traffic lights at a major road, according to court documents.
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In a nightmare scenario for any parent, a toddler escaped his family day care and ended up next to the busy Hume Highway, court documents show.
The 22-month-old boy was being cared for at the home of a family day care educator in Bass Hill last year when he opened the front door and took a potentially dangerous walk to the highway.
The female family day educator pleaded guilty to the child not being adequately supervised at Bankstown Local Court on Tuesday.
The educator had picked up three children in her car, including the 22-month-boy, on the morning of March 23 last year but had to collect a fourth child, according to police documents.
With no room left in the car, she dropped the boy off at her Bass Hill home about 9am leaving him in the care of her daughter, then aged 21, while she went to collect the other child.
The educator’s daughter took the boy inside and went to the toilet.
When she came out about three or four minutes later, she could not find the child and noticed the front door was open.
The boy was found by two women between 9.30am and 10.30am at traffic lights on the Hume Hwy, around the corner from the house.
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“Sometime later, (the educator) returned to collect (the boy) from the two women who were at that time, attempting to locate his carer,” the police statement said.
“(She) entered the front passenger seat of a vehicle while holding (the boy) in her arms.
“The vehicle was driven by another woman. The driver drove off at speed.”
The two women, who found the boy, got into another car and tried to find the vehicle which the family day carer had left in.
The carer’s vehicle was driven at speed around a corner towards the two women’s vehicle, police said, and the boy was put in danger by being in the front seat and not being in an approved child seat.
The carer was unable to provide any supervision to the children when she left the house, with the person she left in charge of, not being a family day care educator, police said.
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The four charges against the carer, where she had allowed others to provide service were dropped by the prosecutor.
Prosecutor Sophie Williams told the court that one of their witnesses had fallen down the stairs and had ‘a significant injury”.
The case has been adjourned by magistrate Glenn Walsh until February 7, 2020.
The prosecution said they will call up three witnesses and defence lawyer Hikmat Al Malliki of the Criminal Law Group said they will have one when the case resumes.
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