Arrest made after sexual violation of 5-year-old girl.

Male accused of the sexual violation of a 5-year-old girl

Police have arrested and charged a 16-year-old male with the sexual violation of a 5-year-old girl at a Turangi campground. An angry crowd shouted abuse at the teenager as he was escorted away from the Taupo Youth Court this afternoon.

Angry crowd abuses attack accused.

An angry crowd shouted abuse at the teenager accused of attacking a 5-year-old girl, as he was escorted away from the Taupo Youth Court this afternoon. The 16-year-old youth charged with the sexual violation of a girl at a Turangi campground has not sought bail.

He appeared briefly in court watched on by a gallery filled with family members and media. Judge Jocelyn Munro remanded the youth in custody for two weeks, suppressing any details relating to where the youth has been remanded. Other details were also suppressed.

The youth, whose details are suppressed, is also charged with aggravated wounding and burglary over the incident on December 21. He is next due to appear on January 12. Earlier, the detective heading the investigation into the attack said New Zealand society needed to take a good look at itself.

Detective Inspector Mark Loper spoke at a press conference this afternoon before the accused appeared in court. He said it was concerning that a 16-year-old could commit such a serious offence.

Mr Loper said he was pleased to be able to tell the family, the Turangi community and New Zealand that an arrest had been made. The girl, who was holidaying from Europe with her parents and 3-year-old brother, was attacked on the night of December 21 in a caravan at Club Habitat Holiday Park in the North Island town.

She suffered injuries in the attack, which took place while her parents were only metres away in an amenities block and while her brother slept nearby. The mother had returned to the caravan to find the door locked and saw through a window that her daughter was being attacked. She ran to get her husband but by the time they returned the door was open and the attacker was gone.

In a statement, the girl’s parents said: “We are very relieved at this news (of the arrest) and want to thank the police, particularly those who gave up their precious time when they would usually be with their families. We can’t thank them enough. They were meticulous, thorough and caring. They are a credit to New Zealand.

Godmother of ‘Popo’ charged with his murder.

Terepo 'Popo' Taura-Griffiths

Mariam Filihia is accused of killing Terepo ‘Popo’ Taura-Griffiths who died in early November, a week after his first birthday.

Godmother accused of murder.

A woman charged with the alleged murder of her ‘god-son’ can be named. Mariam Filihia is accused of killing Terepo ‘Popo’ Taura-Griffiths who died in early November, a week after his first birthday.

Police said he suffered from a skull fracture in the back of his head and a ‘massive’ brain bleed. Filihia, 32, was granted interim named suppression on Wednesday when her lawyer Mark Edgar argued that the media had already spoken to the baby’s family and he didn’t want his client to face “trial by media”.

On Friday in the Manukau District Court he didn’t seek to extend the suppression. He asked that media be denied access to Filihia’s court file and permission to take her photograph in court.

Edgar also asked that her bail application be heard in closed court as three rows of the baby’s extended family sat in the public gallery wearing memorial t-shirts and he feared possible “vigilante action” should bail be granted.

Judge Gus Andree-Wiltens agreed to the first two requests but denied the third, saying that open justice had to prevail. “I will not close the courtroom.”

Police opposed bail over concerns Filihia could interfere with Crown witnesses. But Judge Andree-Wiltens granted her bail under strict conditions “bearing all things in mind” before suppressing what those conditions are.

There was a heavy police and security presence in the courtroom and Filihia was flanked by two guards while in the dock. Filihia will reappear in the court for a plea inquiry hearing in January next year.

Popo’s biological grandmother Anna Taura Benioni has described him as a “chirpy, cheeky boy” who loved food, puppies, bouncing on the trampoline and a Tommie-Tippie toy he’d unwrapped days before he died.

Popo’s 27-year-old mother Terepai said she’d known Filihia and her husband for four to five years and they’d once been neighbours.

 

Child killer gives birth in jail.

Child killer and prolific breeder Maine Annabella Ngati.

The woman who killed her son 3-year-old Ngatikaura Ngati in 2007, and was convicted of his manslaughter, has given birth again while in prison.

Mother who killed child gives birth in jail.

Maine Annabella Ngati and her partner Teusila Fa’asisila were each sentenced to eight years and six months’ for the manslaughter of Ngati’s 3-year-old son Ngatikaura Ngati in 2007. They were ordered to serve a minimum of four years and eight months.

Ngati appeared before the Parole Board on November 7 and was denied release. However, the board’s decision revealed she had given birth in prison.

Ngatikaura Ngati, dead at the hands of his mother and partner.

“She has a lot of children and we believe she has even given birth to another child while on this prison sentence. That child has been fostered or adopted into the community,” the report said.

A jury in the High Court at Auckland heard how Ngati would punch her son in the face, strike him with a stick and whack him around the head. Ngatikaura had transformed from a happy and confident boy to a terrified child who would mess his pants then try to throw the evidence out of the window to avoid beatings.

He was hit with weapons including a bat, and his blood was found throughout the house, including on the ceiling. Ngati would be entitled to reapply for parole in 12 months and Fa’asisila would go before the board this month.

Corrections psychological services director Nikki Reynolds said the department would consider a request for Ngati to have counselling.

At least 17 years jail for daughters murder.

A man has been jailed for at least 17 years for the “callous and cruel” murder of his 11-week-old daughter Tahani Mahomed. Azees Mahomed, 31, received the mandatory sentence of life imprisonment but will serve a higher minimum sentence of 17 years because of serious aggravating factors.

He was also sentenced on two counts of causing Tahani grievous bodily harm to five years jail on each charge, to be served concurrently with the life sentence. A five year term for failing to provide the necessaries of life, to be served concurrently, was also imposed.

His wife Tabbasum Mahomed, 26, was jailed for four years for failing to provide the necessaries of life. She was not charged with murder. The parents were found guilty after a 12 day trial in November.

'Forgive me please, give us peace'

An update to this post.

The parents of a dead baby could be heard praying to Allah and talking about how the infant could have been fatally injured in secretly intercepted conversations played to a High Court jury yesterday. On the day of 11-week-old Tahani Mahomed’s funeral, her parents, Azees Mahomed, 31, and Tabbasum Mahomed, 26, also spoke of their desire to have their older daughter, Tasmia, returned to them.

The 3-year-old was taken away from them by authorities when police launched a homicide inquiry into Tahani’s death. The girl died on January 1, 2008 from serious head injuries police believe were non-accidental. Mr Mahomed is on trial for her murder, two counts of causing her grievous bodily harm and failing to provide the necessaries of life. Mrs Mahomed is also accused of this but is not charged with murder.

Police bugged dead baby's parents.

An update to the previous post:

A South Auckland couple accused over the death of their 11-week-old daughter were caught by police listening devices “coaching” their other child on how to answer questions about it, a court has heard.

Two more sad stories of child abuse in NZ today.

Abused boy’s new carer also on assault charges. Benjamin Mikaio’s new caregiver (an aunt) is to appear in court today facing multiple charges of assaulting a child. Looks like this poor little boy doesn’t have much chance of having a normal life. Meanwhile his mother has been found guilty of wounding with intent to injure, but found not guilty of the more serious charge of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. From what the boy’s sisters were saying it sounds as if his mother was most definitely intent on causing him grievous bodily harm.

A different form of child abuse, or willful neglect is the news of an unrestrained two year old dying when the car she was traveling in collided with another vehicle on State Highway 38 between Minginui and Te Whaiti, south of Murupara and rolled down a bank. Police say it is too early to say whether charges would be laid over the crash. This is abuse by neglect, with consequences just as deadly as those that come from using extreme violence against a child, in my opinion charges should most definitely be laid against the driver.

An update on the previous child abuse post.

Woman said she was ‘very naughty’ after son injured, court told.

A woman on trial for assaulting her son told her husband she had been “naughty, very naughty” after the child was admitted to hospital with life threatening head injuries, a court has heard.

For a grown woman to describe herself this way after what she has done to this little boy suggests to me she is not quite right in the head.