Allegations made to police and court “baseless”

Allegations made to police and court “baseless”

Giffard & Giffard

Involvement of New South Wales Police

14. Reports by the mother to the police commenced within two weeks of separation, and continued to 2014^[1]. As is clear from the tendered material produced on subpoena by NSW Police, the mother’s complaints raise serious issues of physical and sexual abuse of the children by the father. Most of these complaints were not repeated by the mother in affidavit material to this Court, nor to Dr G who prepared the expert report. The complaints are in contrast to the mother’s evidence that the children enjoy a good relationship with their father, and wish to spend time with him.
15. On 28 May 2013, the mother made a long and detailed complaint to the police about conduct of the father. Set out below in summary form are the salient details of the complaint.^[2]
16. In 2007 when she was pregnant with Y, the father was unfaithful, and used prostitutes. In about March 2009 he kissed two men at a wedding, and told her that he had some cocaine and taken one of the men’s telephone number.^[3] They separated for about three months after this incident, and periodically thereafter.
17. The father has “inappropriately touched” the boys: at bath time he called to the boys “Come and wash your bottoms,” and washed the boys’ bottoms very roughly with his fingers. When she said he should not be so rough, and not to stick his fingers in the boys’ bottoms as “it will hurt them”, the father said “I’m just cleaning them properly. They need their bottoms washed.” She felt very uncomfortable, and at times felt sick.
18. There were occasions when there was bruising on the children’s legs from the father holding their legs too tight when he was changing nappies. She asked him to stop this and he did.
19. The children at times went into the lounge room to get dressed after a bath. The father asked the boys to bend over to touch their toes while they were nude. She yelled at him about that. He told her he wanted to see if the boys could touch their toes. This made her feel sick.
20. The father frequently walked around naked after a shower, including in the children’s rooms. She always told him not to do so in front of the children.
21. On Saturday nights the children were allowed to sleep in the lounge room on a fold-out bed and watch television. The father would get into bed with them, hug them, and wrap his legs around them. This made the mother feel uncomfortable.
22. Sometime in January 2013 the mother says she walked into her bedroom and saw the children behind her bed without pants on. One of the boys was crouching down kissing the other one’s penis. When she asked what they were doing, they said, “Just kissing each other’s doodle.” The mother was concerned that the boys may have seen pornography, as the father watched pornography, and sometimes left it up on the computer screen.
23. In about 7:30am Friday 22 March 2013 she woke, and noticed the father had not been home the night before. She decided to separate.
24. Since he moved out he has not seen the children on a regular basis. He telephones and makes demands, yelling and abusing her. She is concerned about him taking the children overnight as he will not tell her where he lives, and she is concerned that he is living in a studio apartment, which is not appropriate for the boys.
25. The police note that the mother did not appear to have any fears for her or her children’s safety. Her only concern was to ensure that the father was not residing in a studio, so the children have their own room. The police referred to the mother being “very determined for the father not to have any access with the children”. After questioning her numerous times about this she mentioned the allegations concerning the father and the children. The police asked why she had not reported any of these incidents in the past. She said, “I’ve always been around watching him and the children. Now that we have separated I don’t know what he’s doing with the children without me around.”
26. The mother told police the father had shown signs of mental illness including mood swings and possible drug addiction, and she felt intimidated by him and scared. The police noted that they do not hold any fears for her due to inconsistencies in her statement. The police officer recorded that she is making a report as she is commencing family law proceedings.
27. The mother refused to sign the statement taken by the police. She said she was concerned that the father would become upset if the police took any action. The mother left without signing the statement.
28. The mother attended the police station again the following day. She wanted to add more to the statement, but still did not sign it. She told the police the allegations she had made about the children would be very hard to prove. She said she would attend the police station sometime next week regarding the statement.^[4]
29. On 3 June 2013 the father spent time with the boys by agreement. The mother asked him not to take the children to his home. After the boys were returned, the mother contacted the police to report that when the father returned the boys, he used the computer and her telephone. She told the police all her messages and some of her contacts had been deleted.^[5] The father was not cross-examined on this issue.
30. The mother raised with the police that on either 10 or 12 February 2013 the father was going out to have a drink with work colleagues, and yelled and screamed at her. X grabbed his leg to stop him from leaving, and the father kicked his leg so that X smashed his face on the couch. When cross-examined, she said she thought X told the police about this in the course of the Joint Investigation Response Team (“JIRT”) interview. I note that the mother makes no reference to that incident, nor to any JIRT involvement, in either of the affidavits relied on by her.
31. The mother did not advise the father that JIRT interviewed both children in August 2013. When cross-examined she said that the interview occurred because the father took the boys out of school. It is worrying that the mother did not let the father, nor the Court, know that had occurred.
32. I do not accept that the father has hurt X. The mother made no reference to this in her evidence filed in these proceedings, and it is inconsistent with her evidence about the boys’ relationship with their father, and the time arrangements she proposes for them.
33. The allegations related to use of prostitutes in 2007^[6], and homosexual conduct at a wedding in 2009^[7] appear in the affidavit of the mother. The father concedes that he used a prostitute during the marriage. Otherwise none of the allegations detailed by the mother to the police on 28 May 2013 appear in any affidavit relied on by her in these proceedings, nor were made known to Dr G.
34. The mother has been prepared to make baseless allegations to the police against the father about his conduct towards the children both of a sexual nature, and involving family violence. The mother has caused the boys to be interviewed unnecessarily by JIRT. The mother did not disclose to the father, nor the Court, the extent she had involved the police with the children.