Two in court on 36 child abuse charges

Two adults appeared in Waitakere District Court today facing 36 charges of abuse relating to two children, aged seven and nine years old.

The accused were given name suppression to protect the identity of the victims and their three siblings, police said. They entered no plea and were remanded on bail until December 22.

The five children had been placed in the care of CYF.

The nine-year-old girl was receiving psychological and other specialist treatment, and likely to need regular counselling for the rest of her life, Detective Sergeant Megan Goldie said.

The other children would also need counselling.

"Such is the severity of the injuries endured by the nine-year-old victim that the police investigators and others who have been associated with this inquiry have all been affected by what they have encountered," she said.

- NZPA