A judge at the Dublin District Family Court has dispensed with the need for parental approval to have a child in care assessed at a sexual assault unit.
The primary-schoolgoing child was taken into care earlier this year having run away from home after allegedly being beaten by her mother. She later disclosed to a social worker she had been sexually abused by a friend of her mother’s at one of her mother’s parties, the court was told.
The Child and Family Agency sought to extend an interim care order for the girl and orders dispensing with the need for parental approval for a passport and for the medical assessment.
Foster placement
The social worker told Judge Brendan Toale the girl was now in a foster placement and was very happy there. She was also settled in school and her principal had described her as “a wonderful child”.
She said she wrote to the mother for permission to bring the child to the sexual assault unit, but the mother did not respond or answer phone calls. When she was asked for her daughter’s passport, so the child could go on summer holiday with her foster carer, the mother asked for €75, the social worker said. When the money was refused, she would not give the passport and later said she had lost it.
The child’s court-appointed guardian described the girl as “content and robust” and said she was “unlike other children of her age” who had been through similar experiences. The child was clear on what she wanted the guardian to tell the judge: that she didn’t want to go home or see her mother.
Backlash
The guardian said she believed that was based on her fear of a backlash from her mother for running away.
“Her fears are grounded and right,” the guardian said.
“Mum is extremely compulsive and has an inability to regulate her emotions. It is highly likely she would explode and blame [the child].”
She said the girl had expressed a wish to see her younger brother whom she had “effectively cared for” while she was at home. She was worried he might now be exposed to the violence she allegedly experienced. The mother was not present in court or legally represented.
Judge Toale said he was satisfied the mother was aware of the hearing and the father had been served with court documents.
He extended the interim care order for the girl for 28 days and made an order allowing the agency apply for a passport for the child. He also said it was appropriate the child be seen at the sexual assault unit.
Separately, Judge Toale refused to hear an application for a supervision order because the Legal Aid Board had not provided a solicitor for the child’s father. He said this was “a constant feature”. When parents have a case to make, it was not just in the interests of fair procedures, but in the interests of the children, that they make their case, the judge said.
He adjourned the case to allow the board to provide a solicitor on the next occasion.
