A teenager with ‘wafer thin’ arms who was so emaciated she risked fractures if she jumped too much in dance class was allegedly kept on a strict diet by parents, given kids’ toys and kept out of sight.
Just before her 17th birthday, the girl weighed under 28kg and was 147cm tall, but her father had altered her birth certificate to make it seem she was only 14.
The vegan, home-schooled girl underwent intensive dance training, her only social interaction outside the home in Perth, Western Australia where the only child lived with her parents.
When a ballet teacher at her dance lessons raised concerns about the girl’s weight with her mother, the mother was ‘adamant’ that her daughter was ‘completely fine’, the Western Australia District Court has heard.
Child protection authorities were alerted, but a worker’s repeated attempts to have the ‘malnourished’ teenager medically assessed were allegedly ignored by her parents for four months.
The parents, who cannot be named to protect the girl’s identity, are on trial in the Perth court after pleading not guilty to charges of having care or control of a child, and engaging in conduct that was reckless and may have resulted in that child suffering.
The girl (above, at dance class) weighed just 28kg before her 17th birthday and was 147.5cm tall but her parents refused to see she was malnourished and resisted seeing a doctor
The girl was on a strict vegan diet and treated like a child, watched the Wiggles and Thomas the Tank Engine and was given a Barbie for the 17th birthday when she weighed 28kg
The girl’s mother did not want to let doctors assess her 17-year-old who sang along with her to the Teletubbies and Wiggles and had her teeth cleaning timed and toilet visits supervised
After dance teachers and the parents of some fellow students lodged complaints with Western Australia’s Department of Communities, it opened an active investigation in late 2020.
Told to take his daughter to see a doctor, the father instead went to see a GP and asked for a letter he could give authorities which stated his daughter was healthy, the court heard.
The GP declined, and when child authorities turned up at the couple’s home and asked to see the girl, the father allegedly came out and stood outside the front door, and the workers did not see the girl.
By April 1, 2021, the parents were pressed into taking the girl to a GP at a Perth medical centre.
The parents allegedly filled out paperwork stating the girl was 14, which they later claimed was a mistake. In court last week, the father pleaded guilty to altering her birth certificate.
At the time of the GP visit, the girl was almost 17 years old, 147.5 centimetres tall and weighed 27.3 kilograms, the average weight of a nine-year-old.
The girl’s dance teacher said her ‘wafer thin arms’ and tiny body was at risk of stress fractures if she jumped in class and lodged a complaint with WA’s Department of Communities
The girl’s father allegedly ‘laughed’ off a suggestion his daughter’s emaciated state put her at risk of cardiac arrest but he has not pleaded guilty to altering her birth certificate
She had never menstruated, despite having entered puberty, and the father had assured child protection workers the girl had a ‘fantastic diet’ and was ‘getting stronger’.
He said she had ‘good energy’, was dancing up to eight hours a week, and he had no concerns for her health.
The parents told the GP she typically ate organic pears, organic strawberries, minestrone soup and ice-cream.
The doctor, who later told a child protection worker she was ‘gravely concerned’ about the girl, urged the parents to take her immediately to Perth Children’s Hospital for emergency admission.
The WA District Court heard that the parents did not want to put the girl through the stress as they were grieving after the death of their 22-year-old pet cat a few days earlier.
The parents refused to let their daughter have an ECG because it was ‘too intrusive’ and when told the girl was at risk of death or cardiac arrest, the father allegedly laughed off the suggestion.
The parents – who timed the girl brushing her teeth, telling her when to spit – wanted to sleep on the ward at the hospital where she stayed 50 days, put on 7kg and grew 3.4cm
At Perth Children’s Hospital, staff observed the girl watched videos like Thomas the Tank Engine and was given a Barbie doll for her 17th birthday
Told the child protection investigation would continue unless they took the girl to the hospital, the parents finally did so on April 7.
Perth Children’s Hospital doctors diagnosed the girl with grade 4 malnutrition, and ordered X-rays and a nasogastric feeding tube be inserted for five days before instituting a meal plan.
The Perth court heard the parents opposed the treatment, protesting the girl was naturally slender and had been a premature baby.
The parents – who it was revealed supervised the girl’s toilet visits in hospital – wanted to sleep on the ward near her, but were refused.
During the hospital stay, staff allegedly observed that the girl’s mother set a timer for teeth brushing, and would give her permission to spit.
The girl was legally taken into the care by the WA Department of Communities and the treatment was enforced.
During a 50-day stay in hospital, the girl gained 7kg and grew 3.4cm.
But hospital workers claimed that she had been treated like a small child and that she watched the Wiggles, the Teletubbies and Thomas the Tank Engine, although an assessment of her schoolwork and piano skills showed ‘no cognitive impairment’.
The girl’s father said she had ‘a fantastic diet’ but in hospital she was diagnosed with grade 4 malnutrition and during a 50-day stay gained 7kg and grew 3.4cm
It was a teacher at Silhouette Dance Studio who raised the alarm over the girl’s tiny weight and emaciated figure, lodging a complaint with the WA child care authorities
For her 17th birthday in hospital, her parents gave her a Barbie doll and tried to organise a Disney Princess visit.
The court also heard from a dance teacher who had raised concerns about the girl two years before she was eventually hospitalised.
The teacher said the girl wore ‘pretty little dresses’, had fluffy toys, and her mother didn’t drop the girl off like other parents, but always waited at Silhouette Dance Studio, approximately 10 minutes from their home, for the duration of the class.
Among the photographs shown in court, the girl is pictured, aged 13, alongside others in dance class aged 11 and 12 who are larger than her.
The teacher said the girl seemed to grow ‘smaller and weaker’ and there were concerns she couldn’t cope with the jumping required and might suffer stress fractures.
She worried the girl had anorexia, but on several attempts to discuss the situation with the mother her concerns were dismissed.
A lawyer for the mother told the court the woman showered her child with love, gave her anything she needed but that she was a fussy eater.
The trial continues.
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