James English: Drug taking child abuser threw two-year-old at wall, floor and bruised him
The horrific abuse endured by a two-year-old boy at the hands of his mother’s drug-taking friend has been revealed, as the man learns his fate.
A man who abused his drug-taking friend’s two-year-old son because of his behavioural issues will spend almost a year behind bars.
James English, 31, appeared via video link in the Adelaide District Court on Tuesday to be sentenced for two counts of aggravated assault causing harm.
He previously pleaded guilty to the charge in February this year.
Judge Paul Muscat said while the defendant was only charged for two offences, there were many other occasions that he inflicted abuse on the toddler, Adam, who had verbal and non verbal communication issues.
He said the boy’s mother Kira Leanne McCallum was aware of the ongoing abuse that English imposed but prioritised her interest in taking drugs with the defendant over protecting her child.
The court heard she befriended English because of drug usage when she lived across the road from him while he lived with his parents.
When her lease in a Community Housing home ended in 2019, English offered her and her two children to live with him in a housing trust unit.
“Prior to them moving in, Adam enjoyed being around you,” Judge Muscat said.
“You observed Adam was a difficult child to control. So much so his mother took to locking him in his room as she was unable to cope with his behavioural problems.”
The court heard Adam was a hyper-vigilant child who was easily distressed and often difficult to settle.
There were also “significant concerns” regarding his developmental delay and emotional wellbeing and he was found to be malnourished.
The court heard English threw the child around which caused him to hit the floor and walls and bruised the child from grabbing him with “significant force”.
“You were warned about your rough handling of Adam by his mother and sister but continued to deal with him roughly.”
Instead of prioritising her son and moving out of the home, Judge Muscat said McCallum pulled her son out of childcare to avoid scrutiny, blame and authorities being contacted.
Both she and English were charged with criminal neglect over her care of the child but this charge was later dropped against English and substituted with multiple counts of aggravated assault.
Those two counts are related to bruises found on Adam’s inner left leg and outer left thigh and involve “singular impacts of force to those regions”, according to the judge.
Adam’s treatment came to light after he sustained facial and head injuries after falling off a swing in a public playground.
Paramedics and hospital workers treated the boy and discovered the “many other injuries” which were caused by English.
“The relevance of you accepting you caused multiple bruises around his body demonstrates the two charges you have admitted (to) were not isolated instances of such behaviour,” the judge said.
“The court accepts it was never your intention to deliberately cause harm to Adam.
“The explanation for your behaviour was through your frustration and your low tolerance of Adam’s behavioural issues.”
The judge said English has difficulties in controlling his emotions which translated into aggressive or violent behaviour on occasion.
“Fortunately, despite the many bruises Adam suffered, none of them led to any serious or significant harm; not that that diminishes the seriousness of assaultive behaviour towards such a young child.”
After detailing English’s past criminal history, Judge Muscat said the culprit lacked necessary skills to control his frustrations and did not think about the consequences to his actions.
The court heard English had an anti-social personality disorder which was exacerbated by his drug and alcohol abuse.
Judge Muscat said home detention was not a suitable option for the abuser because of his behaviour towards authority as well as previous breaches to another home detention bail agreement because he refused to provide urine samples for drug testing and tested positive to cannabis.
“Young children are defenceless,” he said.
“Irrespective of the behaviour of any child, resorting to physical abuse — such as you have admitted to — to a child almost three years of age is simply unacceptable.
“The protection of a young child from such abuse is the primary sentencing consideration with general deterrence also playing an important role.”
English was sentenced to one year and five months in jail with a non parole period of 11 months.
During the sentencing, the abuser sat opened mouthed and appeared agitated while handcuffed.
He was also seen teary-eyed and at times wiped his face.