A one-year-old boy was neglected so badly by his parents that he couldn’t shed a tear until three days after he was rescued from the brink of death, court documents have revealed.
The boy was removed from his parents in the Canberra suburb of Higgins on Christmas Eve last year, the ACT Supreme Court heard on Friday.
The boy’s father, 45, and mother, 23, who cannot be named for legal reasons, both pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm by neglect or unlawful act or omission, the Canberra Times reported.
The parents who neglected their one-year-old son have pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm in court today (pictured: ACT Supreme Court)
The baby boy was unable to produce tears or saliva three days after child protection services rescued him due to severe dehydration.
The child was born premature and while his parents were referred to a parenting program, they stopped attending after a few weeks.
When they refused to return calls to child services, emergency action was taken for the care of the boy.
Authorities visited the home one day before removing the child to find him pale and making no sound, with sunken eyes and ‘floppy to hold’.
On Christmas Eve in 2016, authorities returned to the home and asked to see the boy’s bedroom.
The father returned to let officers in 10 minutes later, and they found fresh sheets on the cot but dirty sheets on the floor.
The baby boy was unable to produce tears or saliva three days after child protection services rescued him due to severe dehydration (stock image)
The room also had a ‘strong odour of stale urine’.
The boy was taken to hospital where he showed no emotion, had thickened dermatitis on his body and an ulcer in his mouth.
The one-year-old suffers from physical and mental development delays and was significantly underweight for a premature child, weighing 5.8kgs.
After three months of assessments, a doctor concluded the child had signs of ‘acute and chronic neglect of his nutritional, developmental, medical and emotional needs’.
The baby boy is said to be in recovery in foster care.
His parents are to be sentenced at a later date.