Girl's torture sickens leaders

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Five adults are said to have turned a blind eye to the sickening torture allegedly inflicted on a 9-year-old girl.

Community leaders are demanding an explanation from Child, Youth and Family which put the girl in her parents' care.

One of five adults close to the family spoke yesterday to the Herald on Sunday. She admitted - impassively - that none of the five had notified authorities. She said she now wished she had done more for the girl.

She said CYF had been aware of problems in the West Auckland house in June this year, and placed her under 24-hour supervision. The social worker spent two weeks with the girl, before leaving the girl in her family's custody.

The wall of silence was finally smashed when the battered girl's grandmother called police after arguing with the parents.

Police allege they discovered the girl covered in bruises and hiding in a cupboard when they were called to a domestic incident at a home in West Auckland. The girl was taken to hospital suffering from starvation and dehydration.

The girl's unemployed parents, whose names are suppressed, appeared in Waitakere District Court on Friday with 36 charges between them, including assault with various weapons and wilful neglect by failing to seek medical help over the almost two years of abuse.

The girl had allegedly been beaten with a vacuum cleaner, a broomstick, had her toenail bent backwards and been beaten with a hammer over a 22-month period, the court was told.

The girl had been taken from the care of her father, 32, and mother, 30, by CYF soon after her birth but she was returned to them two years ago, and that was when the extreme abuse allegedly began.

The mother was also charged with assaulting another girl aged 7.

West Auckland community leaders yesterday expressed their outrage at the "appalling" treatment of the child.

A long-time friend of the girl's mother had tried to take care of the girl but had been refused. She said five people knew of the abuse.

"I never actually witnessed it with my eyes but I'd seen the results of it. The black eyes and the bruises and stuff. It wasn't pretty," the woman said. "It was painful to see. "

The friend, who has now spoken to police, said she told her friend to stop abusing the girl and wishes now she had informed police about the abuse at the time.

"I did turn a blind eye. In hindsight I could have made a different decision."

She described the child as a "lovely girl minus the problems she has and the challenges".

"She's kind, bubbly, she likes to help out."

The friend said police were alerted to the situation after a fight broke out between the accused woman and her mother.

"The mum had heard through an older sister about the abuse happening," she said. "Her mum went to get [the girl] with the sister, then the police were called."

Former Waitakere city mayor Bob Harvey said he was disgusted at the way CYF had handled the case.

"This appalling tragedy should be shafted home to one group and one group alone, and that's CYF. They should be, and must be, held accountable."

CYF northern regional director Grant Bennett said the agency had been trying to help the family.

"We had been working with a community provider and other professionals to support this family and help them get to the point where they could provide a loving, safe home for their children."

But Henderson-Massey local board chair Vanessa Neeson called the incident "heart-breaking". She urged people to contact police immediately if they suspected child abuse.