Parents neglected autistic son
Parents of an autistic boy who frequently ran away from home failed to report him missing during an afternoon out drinking.
The Taranaki couple have been sentenced for the wilful neglect of their autistic son who often smashed windows and was found by police in dangerous situations, including running through traffic and playing near the water, the summary of facts said.
Since 2012, police and the Ministry of Health had worked with the family, who have name suppression, including arranging for a fence to be built around the property, but little changed.
Between October and December last year, police recorded 23 instances of the boy going missing from his home. Due to the ongoing problem, police sought permission to put a tracking device on the child, which was fitted in December last year.
On December 20, the family were out together when the parents began drinking alcohol. The boy ran away from them but the couple could not find him. They did not attempt to locate the boy by using the tracking software, nor did they call police.
About 2.50pm, a member of the public called for help after seeing the boy without any adult supervision and stayed with him until a patrol unit arrived.
The police constable took the boy home and left him in the care of his uncle. When spoken to, the man provided an account of the day’s events which were at odds with the information from the tracking device. The officer reported his concerns to the police child protection team, who began an investigation.
At 6.50pm, detectives visited the family home and found the boy had run away again and no action had been taken by his parents, who were drunk. After police located the boy using information from the tracking device, he was placed into the care of Oranga Tamariki, formerly known as Child Youth and Family.
After pleading guilty to a charge of wilful neglect during a previous appearance in the New Plymouth District Court, the pair were sentenced to nine months’ supervision and 175 hours of community work. A permanent order protecting the family’s identity was granted by the court during last week’s hearing.