Child Care Worker Duct Taped 4-Year-Old Boy With Down's Syndrome, Court Heard
KEY POINTS
- Jennifer Wood tied up child's hand on two occasions, with duct tape and shoelaces
- Wood was dismissed from her job last November following her arrest
- Her bid to have the case dealt with under Mental Health Act failed
A child care worker is facing court over charges of duct-taping a four-year-old child with Down's Syndrome, before calling the act a "joke."
Jennifer Helen Wood, 31, appeared before Sydney's Downing Centre Local Court Wednesday after being charged with two counts of assault, The Northern Daily Leader reported.
The Crown alleges Wood bound the hands of the boy on two occasions in 2017 when she was working as a headteacher at a childcare center in the city of Glebe.
On the first occasion, Wood used duct tape to bind the child's hand in front of him. When a witness confronted her about the act, she replied "it was just a joke." On the second occasion, she tied the boy's wrists with a shoelace as the child struggled to free his hands.
She was charged by police in November 2020, following which she was dismissed from the job.
Wood will now face a hearing after her bid to have the charges addressed under Mental Health Act failed. She cited several mental health disorders, including depression and anxiety, in her plea.
Defense lawyer Catherine Newman told the court that Wood had "long-standing mental health issues that remain largely untreated." Newman added that the allegations against Wood were "made in very suspicious circumstances." "(Wood) is not a good vehicle for general deterrence."
However, Magistrate Julie Huber refused her application, saying there was no evidence of a link between her mental health conditions and the alleged offense.
"The evidence is Ms. Wood thought the whole thing was very funny at the time and was laughing, and when asked by a witness, who was concerned and heard her laughing … she said it was just a joke," Magistrate Julie Huber told the court. Huber also termed the allegations "serious," adding that Wood was in a position of "power" and "authority" over the boy.
Wood has pleaded not guilty.
In a similar incident, a 19-year-old daycare worker pleaded guilty to assaulting a child in a preschool in Michigan, last week. The parents alerted the Child Protection Services after seeing the accused assaulting the child, on the live feed from the preschool. The colleagues of the accused also told the police that they saw him kissing a child on the lips and touching another inappropriately.
