A dance school director has told a Perth court she raised concerns over the emaciated appearance of one of her students with the girl’s parents multiple times over a two-year period, but they refused to get her medically assessed.
The parents, who cannot be identified to protect the identity of their daughter, are on trial in Perth’s District Court charged with having care or control of a child engaged in conduct that was reckless and may have resulted in that child suffering.
The girl was 14 when this photo was taken.
State prosecutors allege the Floreat couple did not give the girl adequate nutrition, leading to dangerously low weight that impacted her growth and development.
The parents deny the charges, but the father, an IT worker, pleaded guilty to forging a birth certificate listing his daughter’s age as two years younger than she was.
A dance school teacher told Perth District Court the girl was small, even by the standard of other students.
On Tuesday, the jury heard evidence from ballet school director Tania Shillington, who said she was told the girl was 11 years old when she was first enrolled at the Floreat centre. She was in fact 13.
Shillington said the girl was small and extremely thin, even in comparison to other 11-year-olds, but no real concerns were initially held for her wellbeing.
“From the day she first entered she was small, quite petite, but she would have been maybe 11 years of age and I didn’t think much of it because we had quite a difference in sizes of that age group,” she said.
“But she always had quite a large head, a petite little body and very skinny arms.”
However, two years later, Shillington – who is also a pediatric physiotherapist – noticed the girl had not grown or developed like other children of the same age.
She was also allegedly becoming “weaker” and less able to keep up with the rigours of a ballet training schedule, which include three classes a week.
“Her head was out of proportion to the rest of her body,” Shillington said.
“She had baby fluff, like rabbit’s fur on the back of her neck and her hair looked very brittle, she would come in with a very orange ring around her mouth and once she vomited in a class.
“After that, [the mother] was trying to get her back into the class, we said, ‘No she needs to seek medical attention’, we said she wasn’t well.
“Most parents would have said, ‘I’m taking my daughter’, but [the girl] and [the mother] were trying to push that she continue the lesson.”
Shillington told the court she approached the girl’s mother “four or five times” more about her concerns, raising potential stress fractures and the girl’s ability to complete more advanced ballet choreography.
The girl was hospitalised after the Department of Communities investigated concerns from a dance studio.
She claimed she was “brushed off” by the mother, who allegedly told her the girl was fine and even pushed for her to be enrolled in more classes and competitions.
The mother also allegedly told Shillington her daughter had been born premature, but on the first day of the trial prosecutor Jehna Winter told the jury that was not true, and the girl had been born full term.
Shortly after raising her concerns, Shillington claimed she received an angry phone call from the father, who allegedly told her to stop “harassing” his wife and daughter about the girl’s weight.
He allegedly said the girl felt singled out.
The girl’s parents outside court this week.Credit: 9News Perth
By then, the dance school director said she was being approached by dance judges, other teachers and parents at the school about the girl’s concerning appearance, so she sent the family an email stating that she would not allow the girl to continue lessons until she had seen a medical professional for an assessment and a dietitian.
The jury was shown an email response from the father, who told Shillington his daughter was being discriminated against because she was vegan and skinny.
Shillington then contacted colleagues at Perth Children’s Hospital asking them for advice on how to proceed with her concerns, and was then directed to the hospital’s child protection, which contacted the Department of Communities.
Winter told the jury the girl’s parents did not seek any medical attention, care or treatment for more than five years before she was hospitalised and put on a nasal feeding tube in April 2021.
They were arrested and charged shortly after.
The court was told concerns were not just raised in relation to the child’s dangerously low weight, but also in her small, child-like appearance.
The court was previously told the girl was an only child and homeschooled and had little interaction with people outside of her immediate family.
The court heard the girl dressed like an eight-year-old, had an interest in kids’ shows such as Bluey and Thomas the Tank Engine, and princess fairy books.
She liked to play with children much younger than herself, and the court was told she had no understanding of puberty and no body consciousness of other children the same age.
The trial is scheduled to run for 11 days.
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