Mum fakes child abduction story
http://www.goldcoast.com.au/article/2013/04/26/451012_crime-and-court-news.htmlLeah Fineran | 12:29pm April 26, 2013
A TEENAGE mum who faked a child abduction story to cover injuries to her five-month-old baby has pleaded guilty in a Gold Coast court.
The 18-year-old, from Biggera Waters, dropped her five-month-old son down their unit stairs on May 22 last year.
The boy continued to roll down the stairs and suffered head bruising and a concussion.
Fearful of her partner's wrath and that Child Safety Services would remove the child, she concocted a story to cover the boy's injuries.
She left the child over a fence, just 10 metres from a roadway, and ran to her neighbour's unit claiming someone had stolen her child.
When she heard screams from the baby she ran to him and pretended to find him.
The mother, who cannot be named for legal reasons, maintained the abduction story to police, her then-partner and child protection officers but eight hours later she confessed she had made it up.
The Southport Magistrates Court heard the rolling had caused the baby multiple bruises, scratches and lumps to his head and that he had been left face down in leaf litter and was struggling to breathe.
The mother pleaded guilty to leaving a child under the age of 12 and was sentenced to 18 months probation. No conviction was recorded.