Horrifying, horrifying child abuse case in New Zealand

Just... wow.

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A 9-year-old girl found by police hiding in a wardrobe had suffered so much abuse that almost every part of her body was covered in injuries, including part of her scalp torn off her head as she was dragged down the hallway.

The West Auckland girl was found by police last month after they were called to her home for what is believed to have been a domestic dispute.

She was taken to hospital where she was found to be starving and dehydrated. The girl was also anaemic from so much internal bleeding, had a broken bone in her foot and had extensive bruising all over her body.

Why was she living with these people?

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The Weekend Herald understands the girl had been removed from her parents by Child Youth and Family not long after she was born, and was returned to them only two years ago.

Looks like that was a horribly wrong choice. If her foster family was at all loving and caring to her, I can't imagine what that was like for them or her.

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In April this year, her mother allegedly repeatedly punched her in the face and hands but never sought any medical treatment for her afterwards. The Weekend Herald understands the mother did however go to the doctors herself after breaking bones in both of her own hands during the beating.

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In November the assaults intensified with her father allegedly beating her with a vacuum cleaner and a broomstick.

During the same period her mother also allegedly attacked her on an almost daily basis.

It is alleged that on November 10 she assaulted her daughter with a broomstick, repeatedly punched her in the face and body, lifted her toenail and bent it backwards and caused grievous bodily harm with a hammer.

Over the next two days she was also allegedly hit with a broomstick and a table leg, repeatedly punched in the face and body, and kicked in the groin while her mother was wearing steel-capped boots.

On November 14 her mother allegedly tore off her daughter's toenail before pouring salt and then boiling hot water on to the bleeding wound.

..............

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The following day abusive comments were written on her body in felt-tip pen. Also during November the mother allegedly put the girl in a hot bath and held her head under the water, starved her of food and forced her to stand in the corner for long periods of time, sometimes naked, without moving.

It is alleged one beating went from 9 o'clock one night until 2 the following morning.

Detective Sergeant Megan Goldie said the girl's injuries were so bad that police, and others associated with the inquiry, had all been affected.

While the girl is now in safe care and receiving psychological and specialist treatment, she is likely to need regular counselling for the rest of her life. Her siblings are also in safe care now.

Wow... just... this is like the whole Sylvia Likens case, except the torture victim(s) here actually lived.

;_; I... I'm actually crying over this. That poor kid.

Again, we're shown just another example of how badly child services can screw up. I hope she turns out okay. I really do.

Why? Why the FUCK was she returned to her parents in the first place?

It's awful when a child is taken away from an abusive home, then returned to it.

"Awful" doesn't begin to describe it, Harley. Those parents should be put against a wall and shot.

This is horrible. Also, thank you Malganis, now I've been reading up on countless Sylvia Liken stories, and it's pretty depressing. AND, I've found a local playhouse looking having tryouts tomorrow for a play based on the case. That is what your links have done to me (I'm trying out).

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Why? Why the FUCK was she returned to her parents in the first place?

There are a lot of complex reasons why child protective services often spend their time going ass-backwards, most of which I think has to do with the staff being overstressed, underpaid, and overworked. At least, that's the reason most often given. There is probably also a metric shitton of red tape wrapped around them at all times.[/speakingforAmerica]

Selenite wrote:

Why? Why the FUCK was she returned to her parents in the first place?

CPS is more about keeping families together than protecting children, I am afraid.

See, this is what's unfair. If a man walks up to a toddler on the street and beats her half to death, everybody would cry for his blood and want to send him to jail to be raped. But if that child is his, people dither, shake their head and talk about "keeping the family together". No. Providing genetic material does not cancel out abuse. Just because you're related to someone, that does not lessen the gravity of beating that person up.

Mr.Doobie wrote:

There are a lot of complex reasons why child protective services often spend their time going ass-backwards, most of which I think has to do with the staff being overstressed, underpaid, and overworked. At least, that's the reason most often given. There is probably also a metric shitton of red tape wrapped around them at all times.[/speakingforAmerica]

If New Zealand's DoCS is anything like the one we have in Australia, then "overstressed, underpaid, and overworked" doesn't even begin to describe how bad things are. I can't remember the exact statistics I read, but the staff turnover was a ridiculous number. There are whole areas where there should be at least 50 people, but only something like 5 core staff sharing that work. So many people enter the profession hoping to make a difference, but in the end they're subjected to terrible working conditions, ridiculous red tape, and constantly seeing the deepest depths humanity can sink to.

I can't say I'm surprised that there would be a lot of staff turnover, but just how bad it is is just mindblowing.

Mr.Doobie wrote:

This is horrible. Also, thank you Malganis, now I've been reading up on countless Sylvia Liken stories, and it's pretty depressing.

Errm, glad to be of service?

Also, if you're up to it, I'd highly, HIGHLY recommend Jack Ketchum's fictional-but-a-thinly-disguised-version-of-reality book based on the Sylvia Likens case, The Girl Next Door. It's harrowing, extremely graphic, but also a great character study. The movie based on the book is also good but nowhere near as chilling and effective as the book (also one facet of the ending is a bit weaksauce, IMHO). I haven't seen An American Crime yet, but I've also heard that's good.

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AND, I've found a local playhouse looking having tryouts tomorrow for a play based on the case. That is what your links have done to me (I'm trying out).

Oh cool! I hope you get it! What role are you auditioning for?

Malganis wrote:

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AND, I've found a local playhouse looking having tryouts tomorrow for a play based on the case. That is what your links have done to me (I'm trying out).

Oh cool! I hope you get it! What role are you auditioning for?

The thing about this play, is that half of it is a real-life recounting of the tale, while the other half is supposed to be dreams/delusions Sylvia has while alone, locked in the basement. Keep that in mind, when I'm talking about characters and such...

Anyway, I'm not really familiar with the play, it was written by the director, but it seems interesting, from the script snippets I've read and my discussions with the director. I'm not sure how exactly he's treating the characters, but, in dramas and stories such as this, I am, without fail, cast as the villain. If it's more light-hearted I'm always cast as comic-relief (or, if there's a villainous comic-relief like the Dentist from "Little Shop of Horrors", I'm that guy). The only time I wasn't cast as the villain or as comic relief was when I played Riff-Raff in a production of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show". But than, he's kind of villainous too, so there you go. So, I was hoping to get cast as someone a bit more sympathetic, even though only Sylvia is really, truly sympathetic.

However, knowing my previous track record, I'll probably end up as "Roger", a character that appears only in dream sequences, and resembles the horror Sylvia faces in the house, concentrated into this fantasy character.

Overall, it should be interesting. I have lines for Richard Hobbs and Roger. One of the dream sequences is a gang rape scene. That, plus the Coke bottle stuff, and the word-carving promises that this should be an intense play, and I know whoever plays Sylvia or Gertrude is going to need a brass pair of acting balls.

Azzandra wrote:

See, this is what's unfair. If a man walks up to a toddler on the street and beats her half to death, everybody would cry for his blood and want to send him to jail to be raped. But if that child is his, people dither, shake their head and talk about "keeping the family together". No. Providing genetic material does not cancel out abuse. Just because you're related to someone, that does not lessen the gravity of beating that person up.

Unfortunately, the whole 'the family should be kept together at all costs' mindset has probably resulted in more infant and children's deaths at the hands of their own parents than ones killed by random strangers. It's a stupid concept, because some people are simply incapable of parenting. I had a best friend in high school who'd been taken away from her real family and put in foster care when she was five because of truly horrific abuse. Eventually, their parental rights were severed by the court and her foster parents adopted her. Since they couldn't have children of their own, they also adopted several other kids they'd fostered, and if you'd asked any of them who their parents were, they'd all have said their adoptive mom and dad.

The idea that just because you're capable of creating a child it HAS to be raised by you at all costs just doesn't work in some cases. As a mother myself, I know how aggravating kids can get (hell, I had two at once), but the mere notion of treating a helpless child like t his little girl was treated further strengthens my belief that some people are just plain evil and don't deserve to live.

Raine wrote:

Mr.Doobie wrote:

There are a lot of complex reasons why child protective services often spend their time going ass-backwards, most of which I think has to do with the staff being overstressed, underpaid, and overworked. At least, that's the reason most often given. There is probably also a metric shitton of red tape wrapped around them at all times.[/speakingforAmerica]

If New Zealand's DoCS is anything like the one we have in Australia, then "overstressed, underpaid, and overworked" doesn't even begin to describe how bad things are. I can't remember the exact statistics I read, but the staff turnover was a ridiculous number. There are whole areas where there should be at least 50 people, but only something like 5 core staff sharing that work. So many people enter the profession hoping to make a difference, but in the end they're subjected to terrible working conditions, ridiculous red tape, and constantly seeing the deepest depths humanity can sink to.

I can't say I'm surprised that there would be a lot of staff turnover, but just how bad it is is just mindblowing.

The Massachusetts Dept. of Social Services has some major staff turnover problems of its own. Between crummy pay, endless political infighting, and more bureaucratic layers than a Vogon traffic court , it's a wonder DSS hasn't come apart at the seams. And though I'm not normally the gambling type, I'd bet five-to-one the suicide rate among DSS personnel is through the roof.

Malganis] wrote:

Wow... just... this is like the whole Sylvia Likens case, except the torture victim(s) here actually lived.

I thought that name ringed a bell and, yeah, it did. I live in Central Indiana, and the newsgasm when Likens' murderer, Gertrude Baniszewski, came up for parole was about the the time I was in eighth grade. I remember my social studies teacher trying to discuss the case, and the discussion dissolving into chaos because it was full of eighth graders who'd rather spend their time making fun of the name "Gertrude Baniszewski".