Two women will face Port Kembla court on Wednesday charged over the alleged poisoning of a young child in the Illawarra.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Detectives from the Child Abuse and Sex Crimes Squad began investigating after a four-year-old boy turned up to hospital on Thursday October 11, suffering reduced consciousness and slurring his words.
Doctors told police the boy had a restricted prescribed drug in his system, had previous upper limb fractures, and was severely underweight for his age.
They also advised officers that the child had previous admissions to hospital with similar symptoms.
Detectives executed a search warrant at an Illawarra home the next day, and seized an amount of prescription medications and other items relevant to the investigation.
Following further inquiries, a 30-year-old woman and a 29-year-old woman were arrested at Lake Illawarra Police Station on November 20.
The older woman was charged with use poison so as to endanger life, and fail to provide for child cause danger of serious injury.
While the other woman was charged with fail to provide for child cause danger of serious injury.
Police claim the child was drugged with prescription medication not prescribed to him on numerous occasions.
The boy is in the care of the Department of Family and Community Services.
Anyone with concerns about suspected child abuse or exploitation should call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or use the Crime Stoppers online reporting page: https://nsw.crimestoppers.com.au .
