Father whose son died in squalid home loses bid to work with children
This is the horrific state of a Melbourne home which ultimately led to a five-year-old boy’s death, after his working father left the children to play among rotting food, rusting tins and squalor. And the man has launched a shocking new career bid. SEE THE PICTURES
Law & Order
Don't miss out on the headlines from Law & Order. Followed categories will be added to My News.
A “shameful” father whose five-year-old son died after he sliced his toe on a tin of cat food at their squalid home has lost his bid to be allowed to work with children.
The father — who was charged in the wake of the tragedy — is training to work in mental health and wants to become an advocate for others.
But a tribunal has found the now 47-year-old failed to show sufficient insight into his son’s death and could pose a risk to other kids.
The father — who can’t be identified — was spared jail after pleading guilty to reckless conduct endangering serious injury over his son’s death. He was also fined $100 for failing to register his son’s birth.
The little boy died in what a judge branded “horrific” and “shameful” conditions with rotting food, bottles, opened cans of cat food and uneaten food strewn on the floor and walls covered in filth.
The father helped conceal the state of the family’s home, saying his wife — who has since died — would threaten to leave with their two sons if he told anyone.
He now says he is addressing his own mental health problems and ensures his suburban Melbourne home is “clean and well maintained”.
He describes his criminal record as a “life sentence on his working career” which makes it difficult to reintegrate with society.
The dad sought to overturn a ban on working with kids so he could complete placements for study in mental health services.
“This offending will definitely not happen to me again as I am resilient and will not put myself in any compromising situation anymore,’’ he told a Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal hearing.
“Sometimes people take advantage of my good nature such that I end up being burnt.”
The father and his late wife were described as “model citizens and good, responsible parents”. But his eldest son now lives with relatives and refuses to see his dad.
MORE NEWS:
DRIVER FLED FATAL CRASH TO ‘GET HOME TO CATS’
STEVENS NOT GUILTY OF LIES OVER RACY TEXTS
SECRET TAPES INSIDE LAWYER X’S FIRST HANDLER MEET
Tribunal deputy president Heather Lambrick found the father showed a lack of insight into his offending and no evidence he knew how to look after a child in his care.
A reasonable person would not allow the father in any child-related work, and the need to protect children from harm outweighed any disadvantage to his career plans, she noted.
“He was prepared to leave his children in squalid conditions without their basic care needs being met,’’ Ms Lambrick noted.
“He helped conceal the circumstances in which the family were living.
“The absence of reliable positive evidence means that I am unable to be satisfied that the likelihood of future threat has diminished.”