Arabic version: تغريم مركز رعاية أطفال في الإقليم الشمالي على خلفية وفاة طفلة صغيرة
According to ABC News, Humpty Doo Community & Child Care Centre and its supervisor, Casandra Harris, have been convicted and fined over offences connected to the 2023 death of 22-month-old Ebony Thompson.
Ebony was found by a staff member hanging from a loop-top fence in a playground “blind spot” on August 31, 2023, after being left unsupervised. Northern Territory Coroner Elisabeth Armitage found last year that Ebony had been trapped for at least four minutes after trying to lean over the fence to look into the centre’s chicken coop, and that her death was preventable.
The centre pleaded guilty in October to inadequately supervising children and inadequately protecting children from harm and hazards. Harris, who was not rostered on or present on the day, pleaded guilty to inadequately protecting children from harm. Judge Stephen Geary said a lack of supervision and failure to take every reasonable precaution were central to Ebony’s death.
Judge Geary said no educator could see children in the blind spot, no yard walk-throughs or checks were conducted, and no written policy required a walk-through. He said four earlier incidents involving inadequate supervision had been investigated, but the blind spot was not addressed despite being a high-risk area.
The childcare centre received a total fine of $42,000 and Harris was fined $2,150. The judge said Harris was less culpable than the centre, had no prior convictions and was not working that day. He also noted early guilty pleas and the centre’s later installation of a gate to stop children accessing the blind spot.
