Childminder seen ‘biting child’s face’ avoids conviction

A childminder who pleaded guilty to assaulting an 18-month old child in her care is to avoid conviction.

The case is to be struck out on payment of €1,000 to the court poor box which is in addition to €6,000 in compensation for the child and family.

The District Court in Killarney was told last September that a postwoman doing her rounds heard screams coming from a house and a childminder seemed to be “biting” the face of a hysterical child she had pinned against a wall.

The postwoman banged on the door and the minder approached with the child in her arms. She told the postwoman she could not get the child to stop crying.

The child’s mother was contacted and she came home from work and brought the infant to a doctor.

Medical reports stated that the child’s face was bruised but there were no signs of bite marks. The court heard it was an isolated incident and the minder had no previous convictions. The child has fully recovered.

The woman who had been minding the child for over a year pleaded guilty under Section 246 (1) and (2) of the Children Act, 2001 to wilfully assaulting a child in her care in a manner likely to cause injury to the child’s health or seriously affect its well being.

Full admission

Solicitor Padraig O’Connell, defending, told the court in September that the woman had children of her own and there were no issues with her care of them. There was a full admission, co-operation with the authorities and an apology, he said, adding that the child’s crying had got to the woman on this occasion.

Judge O’Connor had ordered €5,000 be lodged in court for the benefit of the child, to be invested until the infant reached 18 years. When the case resumed he ordered that a further €1,000 is to be paid into court for the benefit of the child’s mother.

After the conclusion of the case, sources close to the child’s parents said they were extremely disappointed with the outcome. They had not sought money and pursued the matter to ensure the safety of their child and others.

It was extremely difficult for the child’s mother to give a statement in the first place as there was friendship and other ties involved.

She was encouraged to do so by gardaí who pointed out that if this were a more formal child minding arrangement such as a crèche in which her child was injured she would have no hesitation.