TWO Edmonton mothers will stand trial on child cruelty charges after allegedly feeding their infants pureed pizza, pork crackling and other nutritionally poor foods.
At the time the babies were taken into care by Department of Child Safety officers in August last year, they were allegedly so severely malnourished they would have died without intervention, prosecutor SenConstable Sharon Steward told Cairns Magistrates’ Court yesterday.
The children, a girl now aged 2, and a boy, now 21 months, are alleged to have been fed a pureed form of whatever left-over food the adults had eaten, including pizza, calamari, prawns, pork crackling and takeaway food. This was then allegedly diluted with water and given to the babies to drink from their bottles.
Please note: cairns.com.au is legally forbidden from publishing comment on this story while the matter is still before the court
Constable Steward said Cairns Base Hospital pediatrician Elena Mantz, who assessed the infants, had provided evidence that both children had been at serious risk of death from malnourishment.
"(Dr Mantz said) they would have been highly vulnerable to any infection or illness and without intervention both children would have eventually died," she said.
"The defendants were given advice in relation to taking the children to doctors and referrals were made in relation to providing adequate treatment to infant children.
"From the evidence, it would appear both defendants have neglected to take advice from experts in relation to raising their children and adequately providing food that would encourage proper development."
In her evidence, Dr Mantz also noted the infants were so under-developed when she saw them, then aged 16 months and 13 months, they could not even sit up or hold their heads up by themselves.
She classed them as being below the weight of 97 per cent of other children their age.
The accused women, who share a house and are aged 25 and 30, cannot be named under child protection laws.
Also at yesterday’s committal hearing, Brisbane food analyst Linda Jones gave evidence that baby bottles taken from the defendants’ home containing pureed potato and pork crackling consisted of 90 per cent water.
The women have been committed to stand trial in the Cairns District Court on a date to be set.
