Two foster parents of a boy with autism are awaiting sentencing in a West Australian prison after pleading guilty to physically abusing and neglecting the seven-year-old.
The regional WA couple, who cannot be named for legal reasons, appeared in Perth District Court on Thursday over an incident in April 2023, when the boy refused the 31-year-old foster mother’s request to complete chores, including washing up dishes.
The couple appeared in Perth District Court on Thursday.Credit: Elliahn Blenkinsop
The court was told the boy then kicked the woman, who retaliated by pushing him over, causing him to hit his head on a wooden table and rendering him unconscious.
The mother then called her 33-year-old partner, who is also the child’s biological uncle, to come home.
The court was told the pair put the boy into a bath because he was cold and left him there, but the water was so hot it caused the child to suffer from deep burns to 25 per cent of his body.
He did not react to the water’s temperature due to being unconscious at the time.
The couple then put the boy into his bed and left him there before finding him the following morning still unresponsive and with his eyes rolling to the back of his head.
Just before 2pm — 20 hours after he hit the table — the couple took the boy to their local hospital, where he was assessed as having extensive injuries.
He was urgently flown to Perth Children’s Hospital by the Royal Flying Doctor Service, where he underwent immediate surgery to treat bleeding on the brain.
Doctors said the boy had been left with a brain injury and a large visible scar following surgery, and he has needed constant skin grafts, surgeries and compression bandages to treat his burns.
Police visited the couple’s home after being notified of the child’s injuries and reported it to be “extremely unhygienic”.
They interviewed the mother, who lied and said the boy was having a fake seizure and fell back on the floor and hit his head.
“I would never hurt a child. I would f---ing kill myself if I did,” she told police.
“I used to hit my kids back in the day, but then I realised I was getting like my mother.”
But police found text messages regarding a separate incident in which the foster mother told her partner: “The c---’s broke the door.”
Her partner of 14 years, and father of their three biological children, responded: “Just don’t lay into him any more. We can’t risk shit going wrong. Just lock him in the bedroom.”
The court heard the child was born in New South Wales in 2015, where he became a ward of the state and relocated to live with a family in Queensland.
When the placement didn’t work out, the child’s biological mother said she had a brother in WA who may be able to offer him a home.
The child went to live with the couple and their three biological children in a regional WA town in September 2022.
The court was told the child should have had hour-long video calls with both his biological parents regularly.
However, they told police they had noticed the calls were becoming shorter and the boy’s demeanour changing in the seven months he lived in WA.
They also later told police the boy would appear on the video calls wearing long clothing, despite the warm weather, and police later noted the boy had many bruises all over his body.
The seven-year-old had previously been diagnosed with autism, ADHD and oppositional defiance disorder, and the court was told his foster parents struggled to parent him.
However, ahead of their sentencing next week, District Court judge Linda Petrusa said on Thursday that “both offenders agreed to take him on”, and had the option to “get assistance or give him back” but did neither.
The court also heard the boy was taken to doctors for medical care on five separate occasions during the seven months he lived with them.
On one occasion he was knocked over by dogs, causing him to hit his head on a concrete path.
The foster father’s lawyer, Hamish Glenister, told the court his client had been the subject of attacks in prison after fellow inmates thought he was responsible for setting a baby on fire.
Both offenders’ identities were suppressed by the court in case it led to the identification of the victim or further prison assaults.
All three of their biological children are now in the care of the Department of Communities.
The pair will be sentenced on October 4.
Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.