Child abuse case studies

Patricia

I remember a few years ago, I was working at a centre in a rural area where many of the young children in the community attended long day care. It was the kind of country town where the families all knew each other – very close-knit. One child, a six-year-old boy named Darren, was always very quiet and shy – particularly around the older boys.

I had known Darren and his family for quite a while – two of his older brothers had attended the centre when they were little. I first met Darren when he was three and his mum returned to full-time work, putting Darren into the centre. I used to wonder why Darren wasn't like the other boys, who were quite boisterous and outgoing, although I remembered that when he was younger he wasn't so quiet and shy.

I later found out that one of Darren's relatives used to look after him quite often, and apparently she used to be quite nasty – calling him names and teasing him constantly. I heard a story that she would lock Darren in the laundry cupboard in total darkness until she was ready to let him out. Once I knew about this situation, I could understand why Darren wasn't as happy and playful as the other children. Apparently the abuse was never reported because it was a member of the family.

Nicole

Before you joined us we had a young girl here at Cybertots – Claire. Ever since she was only 5 months old, Claire had been attending day care centres, as her mother was a single parent who worked full-time. Claire was a lovely little girl, but I used to worry about her well being.

Sometimes Claire would arrive at Cybertots in a terrible mess – quite often she would still be wearing her night nappy, and her clothing would be unclean. Her mum was always in a big rush to get to work, and sometimes she would hardly stop to give Claire a kiss goodbye. At least twice a week, Claire's mum would be 10 – 15 minutes late collecting her, and she was always in a rush to get going, hardly acknowledging her daughter.

As Claire grew older, I realised that her mum's behaviour was not improving. In fact, as Claire became more able to look after herself once she reached 3 years of age it was obvious that the child wasn't being well cared for. I could tell that her hair was hardly ever washed, and her clothes were never clean. When she was five years old, Claire told me that her mum left her alone at home, or left her to play alone in her bedroom while she entertained her friends. It was quite sad, because Claire was such a great little girl with a lot of love to give.

Sara

I'll never forget a child that I met at a family day care centre when I first started in the child care industry. Graeme was one of those children that capture your heart the first time you meet them – there was something about him that was different to the other children. He responded really well to the lady who ran the family day care, Christine, but no matter what I tried, he would not let me get close to him in any way – physically or emotionally.

One day I asked Christine about Graeme, and I almost wish that I never did. She told me how Graeme had been sexually abused as a young baby by one of his uncles who used to baby-sit him. It started when Graeme was a baby, and went on for nearly 3 years before anyone found out.

Thankfully, the family pressed charges and the guy ended up in jail, but Graeme is still coming to terms with the years of abuse that he suffered – and this is years later, Graeme is half-way through primary school now. It just goes to show you how awful child abuse can be.

Pierre

I used to work in a crèche that was part of a big shopping centre complex in the suburbs. Children used to come and go all the time, but we had a few regulars. One child that I remember very clearly was Carl, who used to come to crèche about 3 times a week while his mum was shopping.

One day we had been doing some finger painting with the children, and we had got quite messy. Carl had paint all over his t-shirt, and some had soaked through to his skin. I thought I had better get him cleaned up before his mum came back to collect him. As I was helping Carl take off his t-shirt, I noticed a small round red mark on his chest. At that point Carl mentioned "My mum did that."

I had to remember what to do when a child discloses information to you. Even though I was very shocked at what Carl had said, I tried not to show my reaction so that Carl would not feel uncomfortable. I didn't ask him any questions about it. I just said "Thank you for telling me" and that it wasn't his fault.

Later that day I told the crèche supervisor and together we wrote a report stating precisely what happened and what was said. We were careful not to mention anything to Carl's mum when she collected him. I had to ensure that I kept the information confidential. The only people I told about it were my supervisor and another staff member who also worked closely with Carl. My supervisor then took matters further by contacting the child protection agency.

I left the crèche soon after that, but I sometimes think about how Carl might be going these days – he would be nearly 10 years old now.