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Child abuse - do we care? (Read 10022 times)
mantra
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Child abuse - do we care?
Mar 30th, 2007 at 8:05am
 
Child abuse only seems to make the back pages of our newspapers.  When we heard of the horrific child abuse occurring in aboriginal communities - we all said how dreadful and that was the end of the story.  It looks like little is being done.

Children are our most precious assets - yet they are so far down the scale of importance in our society.  Today in the SMH another incident which occurred some time ago which had little mention.  A four year old girl was tortured by her stepfather.  Charges had been laid before - but for some reason he got off them.  Where were Docs - why isn't more funding put into keeping watch on these abusers? 

A Queensland man will be sentenced today after being found guilty of pouring caustic soda down the throat and over the groin of his four-year-old stepdaughter.

The 33-year-old man, who can't be named, faces a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

The Mackay District Court heard the child had five fractured ribs and a broken arm, and had caustic soda burns to her throat and groin area between July and late September 2005.

The four-year-old was presented to the Mackay Base Hospital on September 26, 2005, when her parents told doctors they thought the groin burns were nappy rash or eczema.

However, specialists at the Royal Childrens Hospital diagnosed the chemical burns via video link-up and the child was rushed to Brisbane.

She's had skin grafts to her groin area and will need more operations.

Her throat has became so badly closed it has to be stretched open with medicals rods under general anaesthetic every two to three weeks.

But the four-year-old didn't receive any treatment for her broken ribs and her healed fractures were only noticed later when her whole body was X-rayed in Brisbane.

Specialist Dr Geoffrey Withers told the court that patients he's seen with those type of burns usually need narcotics or morphine to handle the pain.

Dr Roy Kimble says the girl would have vomited, gagged and suffered great pain when caustic soda was poured down her throat.

In a pre-recorded video, the little girl testified that her stepfather gave her black stuff and that he also poured some on her.

Last November, the child's 27-year-old mother pleaded guilty to one charge of child cruelty by failing to provide necessary medical care.

She was sentenced to five years in jail to be released on parole on July 13 2008.

This is the second time the man's faced trial over the incidents after a Mackay District Court jury was unable to reach verdicts last November.

He's already serving a six year sentence for failing to provide necessary medical treatment for the little girl.


Lawyers are defending child killer John Luthwaite who was released early on parole - why wouldn't this sick and evil person get life imprisonment?
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oceans_blue
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Re: Child abuse - do we care?
Reply #1 - Mar 30th, 2007 at 9:55am
 
Mantra the stories come out with monotonous regularity dont they?


As for back pages..well the public dont want to be faced or force fed socities evils. Same with horrific abuses against animals. A huge can of worms we dont have answers for.

I am one such person who gets so angry I used to want to take the law into my own hands..it was SO confronting I couldnt digest it properly. I realised i spent most of my time burning myself out with the injustice of it., but then I saw it wasnt helping being incensed and angry all the time.

Even now in my social work..I doubt Ill play a pivotal hands on role as active paticipant in the area of child abuse. I think i dont have the capacity to be objective and this is a requirement. Maybe work on mental health and counselling issues and so play a role that way.

That man should be put away for life I agree. but the sentences handed out to these pple is a joke!
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mantra
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Re: Child abuse - do we care?
Reply #2 - Mar 30th, 2007 at 10:56am
 
I know exactly what you mean - OB.  You get to a point where the injustices to children and animals becomes so overwhelming you have to take a step back.

Even so - we need to stand up for abuse as we encounter it.  If I'm out and I see a child being bashed unnecessarily or an animal mistreated - I will say something to the perpetrator - while everyone else just stands by mesmorised.

Consequently I've been abused more times than I can remember, but I honestly don't care anymore.  Maybe the animal or child will get double the torture in private but if nothing else it indicates to the abuser that their behaviour isn't acceptable.

What has happened to us as a prosperous society that we can allow such cruelty.  You would think after finally reaching the pinnacle of civilisation - these abuses would have lessened, but instead they've increased tenfold over the last decade.



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Sprintcyclist
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Re: Child abuse - do we care?
Reply #3 - Mar 30th, 2007 at 11:11am
 
Good on you mantra for speaking up for those that can't speak for themselves.
I should do that more often. Sometimes see dogs on the back of a ute on a hot day.
I am prob scared of the burly ute driver !!!  Cowardly of me.
A woman would not get the same "response" as another man would.

Very rarely see a child being mistrearted. Sometimes I see ones that should be smacked.

Does seem that child and animal abuse has worsened with the declining morals we have allowed.
The benefits of  a "permissive" society are far outweighed by the detrimental effects of it ?

Bad things happen when good men do nothing.
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mantra
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Re: Declining morals - sprintcyclist
Reply #4 - Mar 30th, 2007 at 12:19pm
 
How true Sprint - there appears  to be more than declining morals though.  It seems that many people are so obsessed with making money to maintain some standard of living  and busy working to pay off their debts, that the children are the last consideration.  Some parents are now so stressed that giving the animal or the child a hiding is a way to relieve their own tension.

You are right Sprint - about dogs in utes and the mentality of the owners.  There a huge number of dogs in my area that are chained in the tray on a hot day with a lead just long enough to hang the dog if it falls off.

Fortunately no one has hit me yet because I stand back a bit and talk loudly just to make sure enough people hear me and there are witnesses.
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« Last Edit: Mar 30th, 2007 at 11:23pm by mantra »  
 
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Re: Child abuse - do we care?
Reply #5 - Mar 31st, 2007 at 1:56pm
 
I think that the lack of interest in all of these abuse cases can be directly linked to the "each to his own" and "if it doesnt affect me then its ok" attitude of society. I dont know about you guys but this is an attitude that i come across all the time, it seems people would rather not think about other people doing anything wrong because then they have to deal with it.

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AUShole
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Re: Child abuse - do we care?
Reply #6 - Apr 1st, 2007 at 4:04pm
 
mantra wrote on Mar 30th, 2007 at 8:05am:
Child abuse only seems to make the back pages of our newspapers.


If it were on the back pages, it would receive massive attention, interfering with reporting of sport and all!  Wink

I agree that child abuse cannot be tolerated, but I believe it is becoming less PREVALENT in our society. Improvement in reporting cases to the authorities has shown an increase in abuse cases. This is similar to the increased reporting of rape in the 80s (? not sure exactly of the decade), although the prevalance of rape had not increased.

Why should an isolated case of abuse be on the front page of a newspaper? It doesn't reflect a decline in societies values. Should a case of abuse outrank a report on a person being killed in a car accident? Gangs rampaging a suburb? Drug dealers operating in schools? The US changing its approach in Iraq?

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« Last Edit: Apr 1st, 2007 at 4:17pm by AUShole »  
 
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Re: Child abuse - do we care?
Reply #7 - Apr 1st, 2007 at 4:08pm
 
mantra wrote on Mar 30th, 2007 at 10:56am:
You would think after finally reaching the pinnacle of civilisation - these abuses would have lessened, but instead they've increased tenfold over the last decade.



Mantra, can you provide statistics to confirm this?
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mantra
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Re: Child abuse - do we care?
Reply #8 - Apr 1st, 2007 at 9:10pm
 
I didn't keep the original article but I can provide  figures for 1996-1999 nationwide and then again from 2001 to 2006 in NSW only.  I will keep looking for the article stating the increase - judging by these figures you could assess it as possibly a 100% increase since 1996.  Tenfold would mean 1000% - so it looks as though my original sources may not have been accurate.

Quote:
Intervention on behalf of children who are abused and neglected is an important dimension of Australian child welfare. The last two decades have seen an increase in child abuse notifications and the removal of children into protective care. Across Australia there were 91,734 notifications of abuse and neglect in 1995-96 while in 1998-99 there were 103,980 notifications, an increase of 13% (Johnstone, 2000). It has increasingly been recognised that investigation and child removal is not always the appropriate response to these reports and that a large number of the reports that come to the attention of State Community Services Department are about wider child and family problems.
http://www.barnardos.org.au/barnardos/html/rd_projects_art1.cfm

and
Quote:
Over the past five years, the number of Australian children in out-of-home care has increased by 40%, according to a report released today by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.
The report, Child protection Australia 2005-06, contains data on children in out-of-home care, children on care and protection orders and children subject to child protection notifications, investigations and substantiations.
In 2001 there were 18,241 children in out-of-home care, increasing to 25,454 children in care in 2006. Similarly, the number of children on care and protection orders has increased significantly, rising by 37% from 19,917 in 2001 to 27,188 in 2006.
The number of substantiated cases, where there was reasonable cause to believe that harm had occurred or would occur, rose from 46,154 cases in 2004-05 to 55,921 in 2005-06, largely due to increases in substantiations in New South Wales.

http://www.aihw.gov.au/mediacentre/2007/mr20070125.cfm
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mantra
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Re: Child abuse - do we care?
Reply #9 - Apr 1st, 2007 at 9:14pm
 
Gotcha with Gary Hughes

Discounted lives

Friday, December 08, 2006

When the doctors laid out four-year-old Danny Dell to examine him after pronouncing him dead, they found virtually no part of his tiny body free from bruising. There were bruises on his head, neck, back, trunk, pelvis, buttocks, thighs, feet, hands and forearm. Bruising to his pelvis, buttocks and thigh had been caused by beating him with some kind of implement. Bruising around his neck and the angle of his jaw was consistent with his having been forcibly grabbed around the throat.

In all there were 79 separate signs of violence or injury on his body. Danny Dell was systematically tortured to death. But the man who admitted to doing it – his father – will spend just four years in jail on top of the year he’s already done. A murder charge against him was dropped after he agreed to plead guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter.  So yet again we have a case where the value of a child’s life seems to have been discounted by the courts. Why are callous child killers getting off so lightly?

Danny Dell’s father, Shane Michael Shanks, was sentenced in Tasmania’s Supreme Court earlier this week to 10 years jail, with a minimum of five. The court was told that most of the injuries were inflicted during the two weeks prior to Danny’s death in October last year. Despite his deteriorating physical condition, his father made no attempt to seek the medical help that could have saved the toddler’s life. “Horrendous as Danny’s injuries were, they were treatable and, had he received timely treatment, his life may have been saved,’’ Justice Peter Evans said.

Last week we discussed here the case of five month old Rachel Arney, who was beaten to death by her father. Rachel was punched so hard and so often she suffered a perforated small intestine, fractured skull, broken ribs and liver haemorrhage. David Arney was sentenced to a minimum of just five years jail by Victorian Supreme Court judge Justice Bernard Teague, who said that while the treatment of Rachel was “abhorrent”, her father merited leniency in sentencing because he was depressed at the time and had since shown remorse. Arney pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

And in June we discussed 42-day-old Jackson D’Aloisio, whose father Douglas also got a minimum of five years jail after pleading guilty to manslaughter for beating his baby son to death. For half his short life, Jackson was regularly bashed and abused, usually because he cried.

So it seems that in the courtrooms of Victoria and Tasmania, the price of a child’s life is just five years in jail – no matter how much they suffered before they died - as long as the killer is willing to roll over to a manslaughter plea. Yet in those same courts the maximum sentences available for manslaughter are in the order of 20 years.

Why?
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AUShole
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Re: Child abuse - do we care?
Reply #10 - Apr 3rd, 2007 at 6:06pm
 
Mantra, your last post is about punishment, not the incidence of child abuse.

I definitely agree the sentences are far too lenient. If you are going to injure a defenseless person (regardless of age) you deserve an indefinite jail term.

I would agree with sentencing being on the front page of newspaper. But not child abuse, just because it is happening.
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Re: Child abuse - do we care?
Reply #11 - Apr 3rd, 2007 at 6:14pm
 
Quote:
I didn't keep the original article but I can provide  figures for 1996-1999 nationwide and then again from 2001 to 2006 in NSW only.  I will keep looking for the article stating the increase - judging by these figures you could assess it as possibly a 100% increase since 1996.  Tenfold would mean 1000% - so it looks as though my original sources may not have been accurate.


Your evidence is the reporting of cases (incidence) not prevalence (all occurrences).

Australia is very backward in this matter. The true amount of abuse can obly de determined by use of random sampling. That is the only way to get a true picture.

Given that hitting as punishment has become non PC in the last 20 years, I think society has become more prepared to acknowledge and deal with the abuse of 'innocents'.

For that reason, I would be very surprised if the prevelance of child abuse was not decreasing over time.
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Re: Child abuse - do we care?
Reply #12 - Apr 5th, 2007 at 8:04am
 
A murder charge against him was dropped after he agreed to plead guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter.  So yet again we have a case where the value of a child’s life seems to have been discounted by the courts. Why are callous child killers getting off so lightly? 

This is not an indication that the value of the child's life was discounted. Is is a way of managing the risk of aquittal due to lack of evidence. Our society places justice before revenge, so there is a very real risk that he would get off if they could not prove beyond reasonable doubt that the father was responsible.
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Anne(Guest)
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Reply #13 - Apr 13th, 2007 at 9:58pm
 
it makes me so mad to hear stories like this, child abuse is happening all to often and everyone seems to be turning their backs on the victims and defending these worthless criminals.
earlier this year my brothers girlfriend left him and took their little 1yr old baby with her, she has been using the drug ice now for some time and her and the baby are currently living with her drug dealer who has been ordered to stay away from his ex-wife and three children because of child abuse, my brother has contacted police, who are aware of who this scum is, he has also contacted child protection services and was told rather bluntly that unless something happens there was not much that could be done. what is wrong with the justice system, have people gone absolutely crazy?
basically my brother has to sit back and wait for this asshole to hurt his boy first before he can get something done.
if the child protections services, DOCS etc and government got off their backsides and did their jobs properly and got their priorities right our children would have a much safer future.  Angry
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mantra
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Re: Child abuse - do we care?
Reply #14 - Apr 13th, 2007 at 10:14pm
 
Hi Anne

What a sad story.  Your brother must be frantic - as you would be as well.  This is our system - wait until something happens.  If the baby dies through neglect or abuse - then docs will step in.  It's the same old story.

Tell your brother to keep on their backs constantly.  If your brother isn't too far away - wouldn't he have access or better still - has he the motivation to apply for custody.  His chances would be good, particularly if his family was behind him.

No child should be in the care of a parent who is using ice.  The risks for its' safety is just too great.
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