Photo: BEVAN SHIELDS
The mother of a young child who was seen holding a sign saying "behead all those who insult the prophet" during the Sydney riots has spoken to police, with authorities deeming her children to be safe.
A spokesman for Family and Community Services Minister Pru Goward said the woman had presented herself to police overnight.
"She did come forward and police have checked the children and they're safe," he said.
"There's been no other reports to our helpline in regards to these children."
He said there were no plans to remove the children from their family.
The photo of the young child holding the sign while standing next to a baby in a stroller in Hyde Park has become one of the most evocative and highly circulated images from the riots in Sydney's CBD on Saturday.
Coalition MP George Christensen yesterday suggested that the child should be put in the care of "better people".
“Using a toddler to peddle an incitement to violent killing is disgusting and I think the Australian public would expect the authorities to take up the matter with the parents,” Mr Christensen said in a statement yesterday.
“If the parents are exposing their children to religious hatred and encouraging violence then perhaps those children should be put in the care of better people.”
Police charged a seventh man over the riots last night.
The 18-year-old allegedly used a milk crate to damage a police car in Hyde Park, police said.
The teenager handed himself in at Bankstown Police Station.
He was charged with malicious damage and affray and bailed to appear in Downing Centre Local Court on October 15.
He is the seventh man to be charged after the riots, sparked by a 14-minute anti-Islamic film posted on YouTube.
with Judith Ireland
