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| Despite allegations of perpetrating violence against his own daughter, Peter Cefai, until a month ago, continued to enjoy frequent opportunities to harm his daughter courtesy of the Department of Human Services. Where does the Duty of Care begin to start while a Child is on an Order where you have failed to abide by the Protocol you are here to uphold! red |
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| Despite allegations of perpetrating violence against his own daughter,
Peter Cefai, until a month ago, continued to enjoy frequent
opportunities to harm his daughter courtesy of the Department of Human
Services. |
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| Despite allegations of perpetrating violence against his own daughter, Peter Cefai, until a month ago, continued to enjoy frequent opportunities to harm his daughter courtesy of the Department of Human Services. Allow anyone who views this documentation to look at the Protocol and see whether DHS have FAILED THEIR DUTY TO THE CHILD “Cefai” IN THESE CIRCUMSTANCES where the Duty is only owed to the Child. Since the Supervision Order was put in Place by the Department we should look at what a Supervision Order Is and then look at this particular case to see whether there Intervention has failed to protect the Child and what have they implemented in way of support whilst the child has been on this Order. |
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| This man is accused of assaulting his daughter and de-facto partner of over 5 years. |
http://www.dhs.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/584440/supervision...
The Legal obligation of the Department of Child Protection whilst a child is on a Supervision Order! This duty is also respectively there to help and support the Parents!
A Breach of any Order is significant and an Order can be breached if your worker thinks that your situation has become worse and that your safety (The Child Cefai) is at risk, or that the conditions of the order are not being followed, your worker can breach the order and go back to court for a decision.
I will detail why the Breach occurred further on and whether DHS have indeed failed their Duty in relation to this Child and whether multiple subsequent Breaches should have been made in an effort to protect the Child and whether their decisions have put the Child (Cefai) at Further Risk of Abuse.
Child Protection in Australia are mandated to protect Children at risk of harm, ensuring they are "safe in the family". When adults caring for children do not follow through with their responsibilities, are abusive or exploit their positions of power, this is when Child Protection becomes responsible for taking action.
I am going to outline each incident that I strongly believe by reading their own Protocol impeaches on the Child Cefai’s emotional wellbeing, physical safety & neglect, followed by footage, recorded calls and photos of what I deem as a mother to be Child Abuse and severe neglect by the DHS Footscray’s case Manager.
All Incidents are ones for which DHS are very aware of and have even had independent disclosures made by the Child.
DHS & their excuse for lack of Intervention and protection is the "CHILDRENS COURT & RESIDING JUDGES" would not deem any of the Incidents sufficient or significant enough to amend the current order because it is the belief of the Children’s Court that a "Father should have the same proactive role in a child’s life to the extent of a Mother" That I do agree with in every respect & I also agree that a Child requires both parents!
What I have a problem with is multiple incidents of risk by a parent, reports that appear in the Child’s best Interest that are not being met by the Parent and potential behavior that most certainly puts that Child at risk of emotional harm, physical harm and neglect and even endangerment of life.
The Victorian Child Protection Service is specifically targeted to those children and young people at risk of harm or where families are unable or unwilling to protect them! "This is a brief summary that is written on the Department of Child Protections website"
Despite liking them or loathing them, it is a fact DHS-Child Protection are a necessary evil and the system is implemented to protect Children.
I do not have a problem with any system designed to help our most venerable in society, but I most certainly do when particular regions, workers and those in a position of power are in fact breaching their own protocol and daily by doing the adverse and putting those Children at further risk or simply not acting at all!
Best interests principles.
Child Protection seek these Orders in relation to what is deemed in the Best Interest of the Child.
https://www.eduweb.vic.gov.au/edulibrary/public/stuman/wellbeing/protect...
The ‘every child every chance’ reforms are underpinned by principles that promote the right of every child to live a full and productive life in an environment that builds confidence, friendships, security and happiness irrespective of their family circumstances or background.
The Children, Youth and Families Act 2005 is a key building block to support the reform strategy to promote children’s safety, wellbeing and development.
The CYFA has a unifying set of ‘best interests principles’ that require family services, Child Protection and placement services to protect children from harm, protect their rights and promote their development in gender, age and culturally appropriate ways.
For the purposes of this protocol, acting in the best interests of the child includes:
• All allegations or disclosures of physical abuse, sexual abuse,
Emotional abuse and neglect
• reporting to Child Protection when a belief is formed that a child has been harmed or is at
Risk of being harmed
• making the child’s ongoing safety and wellbeing the primary focus of decision-making
• sharing appropriate information, expertise and resources with other service providers
Supporting the child
• protecting and promoting the cultural and spiritual identity of a child and maintaining their
Connection to their family or community of origin
• enabling the child and the child’s family to access appropriate services in order to reduce
The long-term effects of abuse or neglect.
What happens when those who work within Child Protection "Abuse" their position of Power and where they do not follow the protocol that is there to enforce the protection of the said Child/ren ?
When Child Protection seek Orders pertaining to Children & supply written Court Reports before the Children's Courts & the presiding Judges that solely rely upon the evidence presented as being "True & Correct" in all respects to make decisions based on what is deemed in the best Interest of the child given the circumstances presented, If the reports that are presented to the Courts & presiding Magistrates are "NOT" True & Correct or fail to depict the true nature of a Childs Circumstance's with information that is not accurate or credible then it puts the entire system that is designed to protect Children in Jeopardy!
What happens when the same Government Department fails to protect the Children that they are mandated to protect?
What happens when they FAIL their "Duty of Care" regarding children on Orders they have sought before the Courts removing them from Parents?
Where are they made responsible for their failures when there are Laws that protect them from transparency when grave mistakes are being made at the expense of Children and Family’s all over Australia?
Where Children have even lost their young lives due to their severe Negligence when in the position of Loci-Parenti? (Place of Parent)
How many Children are hindered by their Intervention and put at far greater risk of emotional & psychological harm, physical abuse & even on rare occasion’s sexual abuse daily within Australia.
How many Children have been sexually abused in Care?
How many notification's do not come from credible & reliable sources rather than people who are disgruntled, malicious - ex spouses, feuding neighbor's , even family members and friends, where those people are protected and their notifications appear to be validated despite them not being true or correct?
Have you ever had someone make an allegation that was untrue and most certainly unfounded & rather than the person making the allegation providing evidence, you were simply regarded as guilty before you even had the chance to prove your innocence & without them providing any evidence to validate such claims, even in a court of law you are innocent until proven guilty!
Why is it that there are so many expectations from parents that are struggling or have no Family support and yet DHS provide “NO” support or help to those Family’s? The irony is, if you become a Carer the structured support and help is there immediately.
Example: From my own personal experience: If you require a Taxi voucher because you are having trouble getting your child to per say Kindergarten, DHS will tell you they cannot help you & that you will have to find another form of transport or you will be Breached for not providing your child with what they deem as necessary and compulsory education.
If a Carer requests the same they are given it immediately! Those that are struggling are left struggling & with the fear of having those they love taken from them over a transportation issue that was temporary! Where is the rational and most certainly where is the fairness or help and support to those who need it most?
I presume if they were to take as much time helping and supporting those parents in the same way as they do Carer's , how many of these Children would actually be in the system, rather than at home with their parents who are trying ?
How many Children Internationally tragically Die in their Care due to their own failures and complete lack off duty off care when in the position of Loci -Parenti ,how many parents are left trying to pick up those pieces with their lives never being the same & given a life sentence after the loss of their Child and all that entails .
How would a parent be perceived if a Child was to die in their care with the same negligence?
Parents are prosecuted by DHS for far less.
How many mistakes are being made daily with hundreds of Children & Family’s when the material produced to the Courts is not true ,nor accurate and court reports have been embellished or written to suit the needs of the Department or the Departments skewed perception.
Mental Health is one of the major concerns for which they use frequently in their investigations, reports and criteria for involvement .Mental Health even in 2013 despite the changes in approach over the years with far more education implemented and structured around greater awareness regarding Mental Health within society, there is most defiantly still - a stigma very much associated with any Mental Health diagnoses. Lack of understanding where a person is labelled by their illness is common & negative attitudes create prejudice which leads to negative actions and discrimination within DHS when dealing with those who have a Mental Health diagnoses & even where there is “NO” associated risk of harm to the Child.
DHS use parents Mental Health issues constantly as leverage against parents who have any form of diagnoses.
How many parents Mental health issues despite the diagnoses & where it does not oppose a risk to a Child is made worse with their intervention ,intrusion and condemnation & prejudice and should a parent that suffers Mental Health be made to feel any less worthy of being a Parent ,if it does not affect their ability to parent?
Where have you ever seen or read a report written by DHS remotely in the Parents Interest, despite the efforts they have made or even changes they have implemented in their lives in order to help their situation?
How can reports such as these be beneficial to any ones emotional wellbeing when they are struggling & all attempts by parents to rectify situations in order to help their Children & themselves are rebuked by Court Reports from DHS with negative responses and reports that disparage people simply trying !
If DHS and their decisions can be so negligent & impact on our case before the Children's Courts regarding my daughter and fail to protect a young child from risk of harm… I ask how many Children are actually at risk currently within the system where they are failing to provide that duty of care and how many Magistrates that preside in the Children’s Court are fully aware of a Family’s circumstances when making such life changing decisions when so many mistakes are being made during the Initial investigation’s that are fundamentally flawed and skewed in their presentation by the Department before the Children’s Court.
I am unsure of the legal ramifications of this publication, I take sole reasonability for what I have written, This is our life that is being severely affected by decisions made by the powers to be - DHS that are impacting on the emotional wellbeing of my Family and I will produce as much evidence as I can in order to protect my daughter from a system designed to protect her from abuse - yet have allowed continual abuse to occur, that has impacted on my emotional wellbeing , not to mentions my child’s that I am simply trying to protect.
I fail to see why my daughter was removed over a remark I had made regarding her Father in trying to prevent further abuse & due to months of raising concerns where DHS have failed to protect my child and I refuse to have supervised visits with my child when I have never apposed a risk too her or have ever been assessed as being a risk to her and have always been proactive in protecting her and parenting her appropriately.
DHS have disadvantaged my child and have impacted on her stability, security & emotional wellbeing terribly & they have had no regard to my plight to have her protected from abuse, it is fair to say that you will and would do anything to protect your child and more so when you have already lost a child due to the negligence of others.
I have no doubt that Parents like myself are desperately trying to be heard and are being silenced by DHS where we appear to have no voice in a Country where we are known for our Freedom of Speech and it is our most basic Human Right.
We are being dragged through a system with people making decisions that are most certainly not based in the Best Interest of the Child in this case & I presume many others sadly.
DHS can try and silence me in court and continue to write inaccurate court reports where they do not depict the true nature of my daughters circumstances, nor mine before the presiding Judges that govern and make decisions pertaining to what they have before them, that can have life changing & have devastating effects on a Family unit if they are provided with misinformation. When you finally arrive at Court when a date is listed, you are given little to no time to defend such allegations in a system where there are hundreds of cases back logged and not enough Lawyer’s or time to be able to look at all the material in its entirety when you do appear and extremely lengthy adjournment's that take months from your life that are most certainly detrimental to the wellbeing of every family member involved.
I will not be silenced and I will not allow the safety and wellbeing of my child jeopardized because DHS are simply not following their own guidelines and protocol and have ultimately put my child at risk of significant harm and emotional harm removing her from a loving home where I may not have the Family support and I do unashamedly suffer a preexisting Mental illness relating to the death of my son, despite the fact it has not hindered my ability to love, nurture, care and protect my daughter to the best of my given ability and under sometimes the most difficult of circumstance’s. My daughters needs have always been met, well and truly before my own in every respect. I fail to see where I have committed any crime.
My disability regarding the concerns raised by DHS are “lack of Family support “and “Mental Health” that has never ever hindered my ability to parent & care for my Child & cater for all her needs, being a special needs Child accompanied by complex medical illnesses as well and over the years multiple therapists and specialist.
Nor have I ever apposed a risk too her in anyway emotionally or physically ,nor would I & that has been well documented in previous lengthy psychiatric reports to DHS that my preexisting Mental Health does not in any way put my Children at harm. DHS despite knowing this still target my Mental Health that is associated with the passing of one of my Children and to me is merely a reminder of how much I will always love & miss him dearly. The loss of one Child has made me more protective & circumspect with my children & especially when my Child is unwell. I do not see that as a crime and even that does not interfere with my parenting only with the internal fear of loss in situations where I have no control over the outcome such as medical illnesses and those internal fears I work on.
I will also add that since the passing of my son, that I have never ever been medicated for my PTSD ,depression ,panic disorder as I have severe sensitivities' to medications that has made it impossible and I like to believe I have done remarkably well under the circumstances with no Family support or assistance for my condition that seems to have deteriorated over the last 5 months due to DHS intervention and failure to protect my daughter with more than valid concerns from any parent in my position.
DHS has raised concerns regarding my “Mental Health” and Domestic Violence where I am not the perpetrator of that Violence and respectfully do understand their concern’s in relation to Domestic Violence and the impact it has on Children.
My Daughter has been in my care since birth and despite DHS concerns for my Mental Health and ongoing Domestic Violence with the Father who is the perpetrator of this Violence they have sought fit to make an order that she have lengthy access with her Father at one stage it was 3 times a week and overnight weekend access ,this fluctuated with certain incidents where they would supervise for a week or so and then deem unsupervised access to return until there was a “Further Incident” & then they would repeat the cycle .
I ask what abuse is ever rarely done with witnesses and do they think they are dealing with a Man with no brain function who has not got the ability to control himself within the company of DHS workers or Police?
My Mental Health:
.My mental health diagnoses is PTSD after the death of my son.
.Panic Disorder.
.Agoraphobia.
.None of these Mental Health conditions have hindered my ability to Mother & Parent my Child. None of these conditions have ever prevented my daughter who is a special needs child with the Diagnoses of Autism, including multiple medical conditions, such an Epilepsy and others from ever receiving proper medical treatment in every respect and with no help or support from the DHS, despite the fact she has multiple specialists.
.It is known by DHS that her father does not take the time to understand her complex medical needs or takes her to even a GP after accidents have occurred that require review and has no awareness or insight into her medical conditions that remotely see him fit to care for her and takes no interest in being self-educated in her needs and requirements, nor have they implemented conditions or provisions requesting that he does learn.
.My Childs education has always been met, as with her education mile stone.
.My Child eats appropriate meals and meals that entail diligent care because they need to be modified due to health reasons, otherwise she can become ill.
.My daughter has always and solely by myself and without the financial support of her working Father due to him being exonerated from paying Child Support due to his Domestic Violence, has had all financial needs met in every respect.
.My Child in my care has been loved, nurtured, happy, clean and healthy despite her medical dispositions, I have always put in supports that have been required where they have been needed by my child promptly.
.My child has never been around any form of illicit drug use, alcohol use or even resides in a home where I smoke cigarettes.
.My Child has always been in a clean, hygienic environment ,though a somewhat” cluttered household” due to us moving back into our home that had been severely abused and was very unhygienic and without any help or support from DHS despite asking for help that was promised and never given.
I have taken the tedious exhausting task at hand doing the best I can and by myself in a house that was not fit for my Child or myself and where I had been sleeping on a couch and my daughter had "NO ACCESS " to her bed, where I went and had to Purchase another bedroom suite because I simply had no help in accessing the one stacked here amongst furniture dumped down stairs in a main lounge that I could not even get too ,let -alone move by myself and despite my many request from DHS-No help was offered or given only demands to have it sorted and done and the back yard when we moved in deemed as dangerous for our child. This was the condition Peter Cefai left the home in before leaving knowing his daughter was moving back in.
.My child resides in a home where she is very well loved and nurtured by myself, where our outings are limited while I work on my Panic Disorder, but I manage to put in place smaller outings and home based activities to substitute for that.
.I am proficient in teaching my child methods of interaction and social appropriateness because she has Autism and getting structured support that she needs such as her speech therapists and always engage with the teacher as too how she is doing at school and whether there is anything else I can do to make her journey in life a little easier. I focus on the needs of my daughter first and foremost well and truly before my own.
.I do not & have never abused my Child, neglected, emotionally, physically or in anyway and there are "NO" Recorded Incidents from my Child or anyone else whilst she is in my care of any such abuse.
DHS concerns pertaining to myself are:
I do not have Family support that I can rely on if needed or anyone that I can call in case I am unwell and the only person made available has been my daughters father as DHS have been powerless to be able to find anyone for me, despite months of requesting someone ,so that her father was not an option at all, nor should he be.
I cannot produce family I simply do not have due to them being either deceased, in another state or would be deemed unfit by the department.
I have requested, along with those who I work with regarding my Depression and Panic Disorder that DHS find suitable respite support as long as I can remember and I have been told there is “NONE” & since these are significant concerns according to DHS, I find it perplexing they cannot provide a solution, yet expect me to find a miracle and Family I simply do not have and their answers to my questions are below.
(A.)They have "NONE" in fact they not only do not have respite carer’s but a shortage of carer’s and cannot provide one and there disposition is they have "8 year old" children in RESICARE units and they are in debt millions? It appears they can condemn a person for not having Family or support and deem that a requirement when you have Mental Health ,but cannot put any respite or support in place knowing the "child" when viewing all the case notes has "NO" suitable extended Family to care for her at all and hasn’t for the last nearly 4 years.
A. When DHS fail to be able to provide adequate care and simply say they cannot help, I fail to see how they can raise it as an issue at all, unless they have a remedy of assistance in situations like this.
B. The other problem at hand is my Mental Health, the main problem I have with my "Mental Health" is dealing with Panic Disorder which can be rather debilitating and restrictive in relation to area & zone, I can only travel within a certain radius, far better than when I was confined to my house and struggled to go to the letter box. I have on many occasions asked DHS could they assist me in getting into a Panic Disorder Clinic who specialize solely in this field of expertise and I have no doubt I would benefit greatly with this particular therapy & for my condition, that opposes “no risk to anyone “ and are merely quite frightening for those who have them… I was told initially "YES" as both Child and mother would benefit if I had the ability to be able to travel independently rather than rely on people and her father.
C. Then there was a change of heart by DHS and they couldn’t help me at all as the clinics that deal with Panic Disorder are private!
How dare DHS use my "Mental Health" as leverage in your concerns and reports when I do not oppose a risk to my Child & you have me asking for any help or assistance & DHS cannot provide anything and will not HELP! Why use it at all?
If the belief is that it could affect my ability to care for my child, yet have no remedy or support in place to be able to help and know that I have enlisted as much help as possible and work weekly in trying to help myself with the little that is available in the public domain.Is that not a person being productive rather than the counterproductive behavior that DHS have supplied being in the form of Penpushing? That’s really helpful.
I would like to know what has been done to date in relation to support, assistance & help from DHS, apart from wasting people’s time where you can’t help them and hindering and adding insult to injury, condescending, arrogant and unproductive and adding more distress to a family that has gone through enough.
The “ONLY” Concern by DHS that is acceptable and a valid is DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.
Should I have to be responsible for the actions of a perpetrators abuse?
I have acted protectively by calling the Police when Incidents have occurred.
There have been 20"documented” or more Incidents, not including his Breaches where I have been flagged by the Police as a high risk category.
The Police say that the Courts are too blame because with each guilty plea or by the time is reaches court which could take a year, the evidence does not get produced and he is asked to do anger management courses. It was also a condition on the DHS orders that he has never complied to that would surely constitute a Breach?
“Father must not expose Child to Domestic Violence”
The domestic Violence has been ongoing and horrendous and I was told by DHS in order to protect my daughter and myself that I needed to prevent him having access to the home.
That meant money, either changing locks, but in this case due to the damage where he had literally kicked in the front doors which were hollow, it meant securing solid front doors and a side fence so that he could not climb over and it also mean changing an entire garage roller door if I could not get access to the automatic key lock. That way I could only deal with the damage to my car’s!
I ask could DHS help us in this way since it was a grave concern or if they could financially assist .They could not help in any way and simply said –WE DO NOT HAVE THE FUNDS:
I had to get money that I did not have and spent over a $1000 on second hand doors to be installed by Hire a Hubby that were solid core doors and $200 for a side fence and when I asked could DHS please get the “automatic Key Lock for the garage” as I could not afford to have an entire roller door replaced as well & had cut corners and he did not reside here and hadn’t since I moved back to my home -I was told "NO" we can’t simply ask him to return it ,that is not what we are here for ,it is a civil matter and then they wonder how he still manages to gain access as he pleases to the Garage and backyard and takes what he like when he wants!
I have done all that one can do in relation too Domestic Violence and what is expected of me in an event of a Domestic Violence incident and are the only expectations in safety plans when you enlist supports as have been done many times with Women’s Health West.
I suspect the problem is when an offender has no consequences from anyone, they tend to believe the Abuse can continue & their actions are justified when there are no repercussions for abusive behavior and conduct! “The father must attend anger management course “He has not complied with that at all has he DHS despite it being a condition of your own Order?
DHS had told Peter Cefai and myself “He Could attend the home as long as it was not when his daughter was present and that they could not entirely stop him and we could meet in public places. This was changed to him not be able to attend the home after they realized that his incidents were still occurring and he was not abiding by the instructions that he was not to come when his child was here!
If it is confusing for you- Imagine trying to comprehend their rather illogical instructions that only made the matter far more complex and in some respects worse knowing the history on and off over the last 4 years! Maybe some couple counselling may have been more beneficial if it was to be in the best interest of the child and he has an important role in her life despite his abuse even to her.
I don’t begrudge a father seeking and getting help and becoming responsible for his own actions and how such actions have ultimately affected the lives of those who love him such as his daughter, only one that can’t see he needs it, refuses to help himself and acknowledge the he has any problems and won’t change his behavior that is detrimental emotionally in every respect to his “only child” and myself being her mother.
I had requested DHS help me by taking me to my daughter’s specialist appointments in the Melbourne, one she waited nearly 4 years for with her Geneticist and DHS had arranged to take me. I was elated and thought how nice of them, they can offer us a “little” support, as they sit there when they do these errands you notice their penpushing (how appropriate, how intrusive and frankly rude).
At the last minute I was called by the worker who said “sorry I can’t make it” do you feel comfortable with Peter taking you because there is "NO" one else that can? It became apparent that is did not matter if I felt uncomfortable, because no other arrangements were made and it was the only choice I had because our daughter needed to attend that appointment and I wasn’t going to wait 9 months after waiting nearly 4 years when it was important as she has a rare gene mutation .
Why is it suitable for DHS to allow access that has been “DENIED” by DHS in Ordering him too not come to the home and especially with our daughter present because of more incidents of Domestic Violence and suddenly have him become my only means of getting to these places in the event they cannot take us? It really does defeat the purpose of what they have placed as a restriction on their Orders. The same way they have had me rely on him in the past with no family support instead of finding someone that can help.
What is even more bizarre is they allow that, yet deny him being an Electrician putting in the oven that I had to purchase because he burnt out the other one and it leaves food not edible and cannot be cleaned as it caught on fire, so he said or to put in the 10 down lights that he has removed all over the lounge leaving it a risk and hazard with exposed wires… I simply do not have the money to pay for an electrician it is hundreds of dollars and it would have got the oven and cooktop out of the hallway!
When DHS cannot support me in doing so and when they allow my abuser to have the ultimate control and by having me rely on him because they cannot provide assistance themselves or give prior notice & they have “no way of supporting my daughter or myself” Why are they Involved?
It appears it’s an “All or Nothing Situation “so my question is if they have not got the ability to support, provide or help in any way beneficial, but merely hinder and confuse me as to what is reallyexpected from myself and do not have the remedy to rectify their own concerns then why are they involved and what is there purpose when they clearly stipulate that we are not to be together around the Child, yet use him when it suits their needs & purpose? It simply defeats the purpose of their Intervention.
I might add on each order there are stipulations such as : Father must not expose the Child to Domestic Violence per say and I can also inform you that he has either not abided by those requirement’s or he simply has not attended what they have requested and not once Breached him for not abiding by those conditions: How ironic!
IT DEFEATS THE ORDERS DHS HAVE IMPLEMENTED & THEIR CONCERNS - IN FACT IT BREACHES THEIR OWN CONDUCT.
Following this there are Incidents which were clear Breaches and DHS should have most certainly acted in order to protect the Child and they clearly did not.
ARE THESE INCIDENTS IN BREACH OF DHS PROTOCOL WHISLT A CHILD IS ON THIS ORDER & ARE THESE NOT SIGNIFICANT CONCERNS & NOT ANOTHER FORM OF DV?
•.The very First concern was the Co-Sleeping between the father & his child in a single bed and DHS had told her father this was inappropriate and that he was required to get his "own bed" and stop as this behavior was unhealthy given her age . Despite residing in a 3 bedroom house where in the 3rd bedroom is a queen bed that does not get utilized, he continued to do it. This appears to me to be a very unhealthy innate need for her father & not for our Child as she sleeps in her own bed at home and despite DHS continuing to ask our daughter where she sleeps and being told with Dad in the bottom bunk, there has been no “BREACH” to date and this has gone on for well over a year!
•Her father continues to Co-Sleep with our 5, nearly 6 year old daughter in a single bed, where he even purchased single bed bunks and DHS deemed that appropriate & where there is a 3rd Bedroom that he could make his own with a queen bed?
•DHS asked initially if I believed that he may have been sexually abusing our daughter, I said "NO" though I did believe his sleeping with her was very unhealthy & more a co-dependency need on his behalf and despite their need to ask if I believed he could have been sexually abusing our daughter -to date DHS have not had our child go through any process to eliminate that initial doubt or any suspicion they may have had & allowing her to see proper experts in that field to dispel any possibility.
•I would never want to even entertain such a thought and I have raised the co-sleeping arrangement’s as a concern given her age and his inability to not be able to stop this habit, but I am not the one they should be asking if they have the slightest suspicion or concern? I am not an expert and should they have not already enlisted an expert to make a proper assessment and determination if they had the slightest concern or doubt?
•Our daughter often urinates the bed at her fathers, so much so that he states he has to wake her at 3am to take her to the toilet.
•My daughter has only ever urinated her bed twice at home & that was due to her epilepsy, she does not have a problem at home with bed wetting. DHS are very aware of this.
•Our daughter told DHS that her father says look at your boobies… highly Inappropriate.
•DHS were made aware there was very inappropriate tongue to tongue wiggling between Father and Child and also between Grandfather and Child when she was younger that was extremely disturbing to watch and they were told that behavior needed to stop immediately. This behavior was quite constant in 2008-09-10 and eventually stopped. DHS said it could be a culture issue given they are Maltese, I doubt there culture indifference has anything to do with this dysfunctional behavior.
•Our daughter has made a disclosure that while her father was washing her in the bath, after he washed her private parts he smelt his fingers and when she asked him what he was doing he said your "minnie stinks" despite being told that he does not need to bath her, as she washes herself at home and is very independent in this area and this behavior is sickening and extremely concerning to date DHS have done nothing.
•.Our daughter shows a very unhealthy obsession with male “men” that are strangers, by inappropriately crawling all over them and rubbing their face ,calling them cute and wanting to get unnaturally close ,sitting on their knees and getting inappropriately close with her body language. When she was on holiday not 1 but 3 men felt very uncomfortable by her behavior and had to keep telling her to either get down or off them.
One was a father with children.
•Another asked her would she like to watch a movie and she said yes a sex movie and he was extremely perplexed, she later explained that she watches home and away with her father and it is a sex movie because they kiss in it ,sex movies have kissing!
•I am unsure what she is viewing whilst in her father’s care, but there clearly appears to be no boundaries regarding what she is watching on TV or even if she has been privileged to pornographic material. How does a 5 year old know about sex or what that even means, I know they do not discuss it as part of her education, so she clearly is being influenced by something or someone?
•Despite my concerns, I had been told on multiple occasions that if I was not to allow access to go ahead with her father I would be in breach of the supervision Orders, yet these are not clearly Breaches or valid concerns ?
•.Her father watches her go to the toilet standing at the door and making her bend over so he can see if she has wiped herself properly and he also shuts the door and invites her in while he is in the toilet using it himself. My daughter has been appropriately toilet trained and able to wipe herself as she does at school since she was 3.
•.The behaviors above with comments from her father hey sexy bum and the fact he does not call her by her name but buddy is not a healthy relationship in any respect for whatever reason .DHS are aware of all the above and have little to know concerns and we have waited for a year to have proper assessment’s to see whether there is underlying reasons for his odd and unhealthy behavior that is most certainly detrimental to our daughter in every respect.
•Her Father always asks her- Do you love me? Tell me you love me and makes her kiss him and say I love you. He has indoctrinated her with his likes, rather than the likes of a child, she tells him he can’t have any girls in his life and he tells her, I only love and want you.
•In the past he has manifested a very unhealthy situation between myself and him, by telling me if I went to kiss him on the cheek to go away and would say to our daughter “I only love you” and scolding me, saying don’t kiss me & shoving me away and then going and kissing our daughter.
•.After many months of this behavior , if my daughter even sees me attempting to kiss her father good bye ,she becomes violent and jealous, shoving me away and punching me ,calling me foul names & telling me not to touch him. The relationship they have is not one you would ever see between a father and daughter, it is unhealthy in many respects and I have never encountered a relationship like it.
•DHS are more than aware that our Daughter has witnessed "Severe Ongoing Domestic Violence" and has been a "Victim" Statistics and documentation freely available tell us the huge emotional, physiological impact that has on a young child-DHS to date have not incorporated any help for our daughter in any respect, nor have they retained a physiologist to see what underlying emotional damage has been done by witnessing DV over a period of 4 years and even participating in such violence by hitting me & getting approval from her father after an incident.
• She also verbally mimics her father by calling me a F…Mole and F Fat Bitch and other vile names and even mimicking the way her brother died as he mimics my dying son, taking his last breaths and asking me for help by saying mum its Nathan help me and she behaves in the same manner, her Father encourages her behavior & reinforces what she is doing by appraisal. It is emotional abuse in its most inhumane form and enough to nearly push anyone over the edge when he does this and even worse when I see my daughter become a victim of his disgusting taunts when she is so innocent and has not got any idea that he is mocking her deceased brother and what will the emotional impact be when she realizes what she is doing when she loves her brother so dearly.
•DHS have asked her ,does she know what it means when she does this and she said NO-I just copy my Dad because he likes it or most commonly refers to him as Peter.
•DHS have a responsibility to enlist appropriate supports and a physiologist regarding her behavior to be able to make the determination what characteristics and behavioral issues are due to her high functioning Autism and what is due to her witnessing years of Domestic Violence and the abuse that has been inflicted upon her by her own father and witnessing such events as the death of her pets and abuse.
•DHS despite a report that was originally given to them that stated ..."The Fathers needs were based solely around "HIS NEEDS & NOT THE NEEDS of the CHILD" and although she loved her father she also feared him. That report was well over a year and half ago and to date nothing has been done and the Domestic Violence has continued not only in my home but also his place of residence and work.
If that alone was not bad enough, there have been multiple incidents of PHYSICAL ABUSE towards the child from her father Peter Cefai.
•Pulling of her hair and making her cry.
•Pulling at her ear and it was red and swollen and she was hysterical and he has done this quite a few times.
•Slapping her in the face with what they expressed as being more than moderate force after an Interview where she made the disclosure of abuse and they asked her to show them how hard daddy hit her & she put her hand back and slapped the workers face that hard the worker said her face was still stinging minutes later.
•Grabbing, twisting and pulling her nose to where she cries.
•Slapping & hitting her where he has left a welted hand prints and where she runs to her room and puts her head into a pillow and cry’s where she can’t catch her breath and will show you how she can’t catch her breath .
•Whipping her in the neck with a twisted T/Shirt discretely and then while she is crying uncontrollable, he stands there denying it and calls her a F…Liar, yet you can see the marks and his abuse appears to be discrete and privately.
•Pushing her in the back & slapping her chest over her heart and near her collar bone leaving significant red markings, where it was hidden with a t/shirt because it is one of the conditions that he not physically abuse her and yet he does, without any Breach occurring or having Peter made accountable for such abuse that is sadistic and childlike and dangerous and he simply cannot stop or help himself from doing it and then blackmails her that if she tells anyone she can’t go to an event she is looking forward to or he will go to jail and the police will take him.
•Slapping her in the back so hard that she came flying off the top of the ladder on the bunk bed and she had bruising to her forehead, arms and legs that were deemed by the hospital as being inconclusive as they could have also come from accidental injuries as well. Even the Police that spoke to her believed what she told them, but she was far too young to make a statement and her injuries were not significant enough as in broken bones. I ask what will it take and how long before she is severely injured .She was also noted as being very pale by hospital staff and tired on arrival after she spent the weekend with her father and looked white as a sheet and sick.
•There is also a small extremely significant scull calcification on her forehead where there was also a tiny bleed that had damaged her skull that still can be felt, after she apparently walked into a pole and I was told she would have most certainly been concussed due to the nature of the injury .Her father hid it for the entire weekend and did not even seek medical attention and told her not to tell anyone, yet after she arrived home and the lump did not look and feel right, I took her to the doctors where they ordered an ultrasound & subsequently where the damage was found.
•He has no boundaries even around his responsibility, if indeed it was an accident in seeking her proper medical attention after such a serious blow to the head/scull where she nearly knocked herself out enough to completely fall over.
•He calls her a F….Bitch or calls her saying you little Bitch & names that are disgusting and highly inappropriate.
•He has made gesture to slit her throat after an incident of Domestic Violence after taking her in his car and always takes her after abuse incidents and you can’t stop him apart from calling the Police, because his aggression and violence are out of control and it would put her I further danger trying to remove her from him.
•He has held her while kicking, head butting and punching me and shoving me over either in his arms or while she has been in my arms.
•He damages my cars and property and steals money that is my daughters Christmas money and takes the most personal things, even my dead sons clothing he has taken and walked in wearing his shorts that have been sacredly kept and put away and when I am beside myself and in shock, he replies what’s your problem & say it’s not as if he will ever get to where them or care his dead.
•He has driven in a 50k zone doing over 80k or more with our daughter in the car and having our child explaining to DHS that the car hit the side of the road and he drives very fast going side to side (apparently the name is fishtailing) and she thinks she is going to heaven & going to die where her brother is and that it scares her really bad and she feels sad. How can you comprehend that fear?
•She says how she always feels sad and how bad she cries after incidents.
•DHS deemed it fit to tell him not to drive like that and he has done it on more than one occasion, despite the obvious emotional damage it has caused her.
•He has driven with her in the front seat of the car without a proper restraint and says she like it though.
•He has driven an un-roadworthy car with her in it speeding calling me and telling her to say hello to mummy and then him telling me how fast he was going, I was absolutely hysterical and him saying F…You Bitch as though my Child was not ever coming back and unrestrained . The Police were powerless to even intercept him as there were NO Family Law Court Orders in Place. I had to wait to see if my daughter was coming home or due to his aggression and impulsivity whether I would get a call saying she had died in a car accident. I was begging them for help and no one not even DHS could help me.
•The Incidents have been multiple and many even costing the lives of our 2 beloved dog’s one being my deceased sons and an assault to a 3rd dog!
•My daughters and mine Jack Russell was mysteriously poisoned whilst he refused to allow us to have our dog after I moved out and she witnessed it die as she tried to reassure her pet he would be okay and who she called her best friend, that he was going to be okay as he lay dying under a tree in the backyard and she was trying to lift him up.
•On the weekend when he had visiting rights ordered by DHS my daughter watched for 2 days her pet die inhumanely where he could not get up from under a fern tree in the back yard and where she could not understand why he was not playing with her and her father telling her maybe a snake bit him, where she was doting on him and trying to talk to him telling him to get better. When she arrived home on the Sunday distressed she said mummy Rocky is sick and he can’t get up and play with me and her father called her a liar, I went to the home where I found my dog lying there unable to get up and dying, I became hysterical. I immediately called the Lord Smith Hospital where they asked me to look at his gums and they were white, they said he had been poisoned .Peter then claimed he had seen him eat rat poison he had decided to put in the shed but had taken him to a vet where he said he will be fine and to give him water a totally different version he gave to his grief stricken 5 year old daughter about her beloved pet who she referred to as her best friend as they spent every night together playing on her trampoline, she never did use her trampoline after his death and still today says how much she misses him. After blood and plasma transfusion trying to desperately save his life, my daughter had to watch him die and was devastated and when Peter was asked by the Lord Smith what vet gave him that information he said I lied and had no remorse at all.
•That was his Childs pet.
•The second and most treasured pet belonged to my deceased son who was my closest companion also died at the hands of Peter .We had an Alaskan Malamute and my old Foxy Sparky that resided together happily for many years . I and Peter knew they could not be fed together. After an incident of DV where I left the home, I came home later to my beloved old dog with his eye hanging out and blood all over his face, I immediately got a friend to take him to the Lord smith where his eye was removed and the socket sutured and eventually sent home, Peter said I never seen his eye or face like that, I forgot and fed the dogs together Jetta must of attacked him. Months later another Incident occurred and when I returned home my beloved dog and friend had to be put down as he was again savaged by Jetta due to Peter feeding them again together despite the incident months earlier, he said I forgot ,accidents happen.
•As little as a few months ago he picked up my daughters and mine little Chihuahua whom she also called Rocky where he was allowed to come to the home with the provided consent of DHS as his daughter had been just diagnosed with epilepsy and was having seizure’s that were petrifying and as he sat next to our daughter with her dog on her lap, he said something in an aggressive tone towards her and I asked him to please leave and return to see her the following day as I knew where it would lead.
•He then grabbed our dog from her lap and threw it with full force into the side of my head where initially I thought he had punched me to my head and I felt dizzy, to only look down to see my dog on the ground who couldn’t get up or move, my daughter became extremely distressed and we were crying ,I was calling around trying to get an after-hours vet, I found one who told me Rocky may have incurred a brain injury with the force or concussion as his body was shaking and he was very sleepy and disorientated and wasn’t responding well.
•As I put down the phone, I had to call an ambulance for my daughter as she suffered one of the worst seizure’s she had to date which started with severe emotional distress and palpitations and led to a full convulsive seizure ,there will never be any doubt in my heart the incident with her pet severely impacted on her as she was saying to her dog please don’t die I love you ,I believe the significant trauma brought on that major seizure where I was hysterical as I was getting coached by 000 in what to do with my daughter she ended up in the Royal Children’s and whilst we stayed in there ,all I could think of was whether I was coming home to another one of our beloved dogs dead and how could I explain that to her a 3rd time when she had witnessed her own father inflict that upon her pet and some body she loved so dearly.
•DHS are aware that he has currently taken one of my pets and I asked them could they get it returned fearing the worse to be told it’s not there job!
•This time we were fortunate that he survived and must have suffered some unconsciousness and shock and he made a full recovery thank god & the only damage that appears to have occurred is slight damage to his right eye, but we still have him to love and his healthy and happy.
•These incidents there is no doubt have incurred severe emotional damage, not only has she witnessed his physical abuse of myself where she has constantly felt the need of late to apologize, saying sorry mummy I didn’t want to go but I had to go because he was so angry and feeling some sense of guilt about it and saying how sad it made her feel, but she has had to witness her pets die or be injured by her own father and even be physically abused by him at various times.
•These are things that have left severe emotional scars even with me, how could they not affect a small venerable innocent child and how will she perceive the world to be when experiencing such severe emotional abuse and DHS are very aware of all of this and too date there have been no consequences or more importantly help for our child, the greatest victim in all of this and now they have removed her from myself the only person that has to date that never has hurt her and has tried with all that I am to protect her in every possible way.
•What use is any parent if they cannot protect their Children, the one thing you would die for if need be and the only thing you most certainly live for and love unconditionally in life.
•DHS are more than aware in case notes, discussions with our child independently that these all things have occurred and "THEY STILL FAIL TO PROTECT HER."
DHS last week were notified of a -------"SHOTGUN"------ that she had taken and played with in her Granddads Bedroom and she had seen this gun on more than one occasion between the Wardrobe and Wall not secured, where she went in after a conversation with her father regarding Chopper Read and her father saying he killed 7 people and if you do not kill someone like him- he will kill you!
She seen a man painting the house next door with a paint gun and proceeded to take the -----SHOTGUN ----from the bedroom and when asked what she was going to do with it ,she said I was going to --shoot and kill--- him because he was a bad man.
Two days later after the police were made aware of her disclosure they went and confiscated the Firearms from where she said it was and another two in a safe and the gun license was cancelled due to it not being properly secured and subsequent safety concerns.
"DHS made the decision she could return to the home as the gun was gone and there was NO RISK and KATE LAVELLE TEAM LEADER DECIDED THERE WAS NOT ENOUGH OF A” RISK” TO PREVENT FURTHER ACCESS WITH HER FATHER UNTILL PROPER ASSESSMENT’S WERE MADE –Despite all of the previous Incidents!
What 5 year old believes she can kill someone?
What 5 year old has access or has even seen a gun and when is there going to be a need to act in the best Interest of the CHILD and protect her from these incidents where she is being constantly abused, emotionally & physically in every respect and their excuse is that the "Judges that preside in the Children’s Court will not consider such matters as significant harm or Abuse and that the father has as much equal parenting rights as the mother.
I do not dispute that should be the case in most cases, but in relation to these incidents then there protocol that is in the best Interest of the Child is most certainly being breached by the Department of Child Protection where they are significantly breaching their Duty Of Care to my Child and putting her at further RISK OF SEVERE ABUSE.
DHS despite the Order stating one of their concerns are the Domestic Violence and that the Father not attend the home because of his impulsivity and violence, they recently of last week were supposed to drive me to an appointment in Melbourne Royal Children’s for our daughter.
I was called by the worker and told did I feel comfortable with Peter taking me and our daughter as she could not and had no one else to take us and to an important review regarding what her future might entail. My daughter needed to go and so there were no other options since I have no family.
It occurred to me that she did not have any concern of whether I felt comfortable or not with him taking me, she left me with no other option in what I regards a “be all or nothing situation “and where one minute suited DHS as it has before to allow the perpetrator of abuse to do things when they were unable to, yet other times it was deemed inappropriate and what message does that give you and how do you make sense when even DHS have no boundaries around condition’s they have implemented on their own Orders.
Then they Breach you regarding “Parents continue to Breach Supervision Order exposing the Child to DV- “Well what are they doing being aware of the volatility and enabling it to occur when it suits them and when they can’t be bothered to uphold their own concerns & then Breach you after they have impeached their own Orders by allowing it and encouraging it in a “All or Nothing Situation when it appeases them in doing so when they cannot provide alternative assistance “?
There was a further incident where he had emotionally rejected her after she said he had purchased an item and he called her a liar, she was clinging to his leg and then he picked her up not once but 3 times and slammed her into a daybed and she hit her back on the bed and she was severely emotionally distressed by his rejection and asking him to pick her up crying and whispering in his ear don’t you remember daddy and then again he told her she was a liar and slammed her down.
How does a mother continue to see this abuse over years and the powers to be can’t stop him or help your child and knowing in your heart one day he will hurt her so badly if not kill her accidently and feel in a moment of sheer despair & frustration where you are bushed to the brink & consider taking his life in order to protect her and stop the never ending Abuse? I have been close breaking point, I am only human where I have begged them to stop this abuse or I will even if it is at the expense of his life and my own take it into my own hands, because at least I know she will be safe and for that I have been punished by them removing my daughter and have them say my mental health is deteriorating. Whose wouldn’t?
I ask what parents wouldn’t after ALL of these incidents, not to name the ones that I haven’t mentioned, it is enough to push the sanest person to the edge in order to protect their child. If my thoughts are irrational than what the hell is DHS conduct in not being able to protect our child from this? Which is the lesser evil and who has failed my family here?
DHS are in fact impeaching and breaching their own orders and where are they being made accountable and driving people to emotional despair and hopelessness!
To date they have not been made accountable and unless people are able to read what actually occurs and is hidden from the Courts, then Children & Family’s will be at their peril where there appears to be no accountability for those who are making the rules in relation to choices in the best Interest of the Child and is any of this really in hindsight in the best Interest of the child and family apart from being detrimental in every respect.
I believe this a Breach of their own conduct and failure to “Protect” our daughter and has caused severe damage to the family network and all that entails.
http://forums.altnews.com.au/blogs/dhsvicnegligence/cefai-child-allowed-be-abused
