Killer mum Tina Terlato granted working with children permit to work with Essendon cheer squad
A killer mum has been granted a working with children permit to make banners for the Essendon cheer squad.
Police & Courts
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A mother who killed her baby has been given a working with children permit.
Tina Terlato pleaded guilty to infanticide after her eight-week-old baby Amanda died with a fractured skull and bleeding on the brain in April 2012, while her twin sister Alicia suffered terrible injuries leaving her with lifelong brain injuries.
The Sunday Herald Sun can reveal Terlato, a footy diehard, is a member of the Essendon cheer squad and can actively work alongside children making banners, despite her convictions.
Amanda and Alicia’s family, including their father, Paul Terlato, have expressed “shock” and “disgust”, saying they are “dumbfounded” Terlato holds a working with children permit.
“Every time I see her face when she poses up with AFL players or when I hear about her attending games – it just brings back bad memories,” Mr Terlato said. “I’m shocked, I’m disgusted, I’m angry. Essendon Football Club and the AFL need to stop her membership and refuse her entry anywhere in Australia.”
A working with children permit allows any adult to work with children, after a background check has been made against any criminal history.
It is unclear how Tina Terlato was able to qualify for the permit with a Department of Justice and Community Safety spokeswoman saying only, “It is inappropriate to comment on individual cases and applications for working with children checks’’.
Terlato was charged with baby Amanda’s murder but later pleaded guilty to infanticide, and was sentenced to a community corrections order.
She pleaded guilty to recklessly causing serious injury to Alicia, after an attempted murder charge was downgraded. The court was told she had post-natal depression when the twins were injured over a period of weeks.
Terlato’s name, and those of the children, were suppressed eight years ago by court orders that expired in late 2019.
In an email seen by the Sunday Herald Sun between the family and Essendon Football Club’s membership team, the club said “criminal convictions don’t prohibit people from becoming members of the club”.
“Passing a police, background check is not a requirement. All members of the Bomber Squad are required to pass a working with children check in order to participate in activities like banner making.
“If a member’s status ever changes, then we would act accordingly.” The club provided the same response to the Sunday Herald Sun when questioned about Terlato’s working with children permit.
Amanda and Alicia’s aunty and uncle Michelle and Joe, said they were also “angry” at Terlato’s freedoms.
“It just makes me wonder how many other people have fallen through the system as well,” Michelle said.
Tina Terlato did not respond to requests for comment.
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