Bathurst childcare worker pleads guilty to assaulting 3-year-old
An 18-year-old woman has appeared in court charged with assaulting a child at a childcare centre in Bathurst. (ABC News: Kyle Harley)
In short:
An 18-year-old former childcare worker has pleaded guilty to common assault.
The woman admitted to dragging a three-year-old boy onto a mattress at a childcare centre in Bathurst.
What's next?
The woman will appear in court for sentencing on December 10.
A former childcare worker has pleaded guilty to assaulting a three-year-old boy at a centre in the New South Wales Central West.
Bathurst Local Court heard that on on July 11 this year the 18-year-old woman dragged the child by the arm for a distance of about 3 metres before throwing him onto a mattress.
The child's jumper was torn during the incident, which took place at a Bathurst childcare centre.
During a court appearance on Wednesday, the woman entered a plea of guilty to one count of common assault.
Excessive force used
The agreed statement of facts tendered to the court stated the accused was attempting to put a number of children to sleep.
CCTV footage showed her repeatedly asking the victim lie down on a mattress and asking a colleague for help.
"The accused received no support from other educators and became increasingly frustrated and flustered," the document said.
The woman grabbed the child by the arm, lifted him from the ground and dragged him approximately 3 metres to a separate mattress.
The worker then dropped the victim onto the mattress before picking him up again.
"This action caused the victim pain and discomfort and resulted in his jumper being torn,"the documents said.
"The actions of the accused [were] considered in excess of a reasonable amount of force to manage a child."
The agreed facts showed that following the woman's arrest in September, she expressed remorse and stated "she did not intend to cause harm to the victim or damage his clothing".
She told police she was feeling frustrated and flustered due to a lack of assistance in managing the children.
She will appear again in Bathurst Local Court for sentencing on December 10.
The 18-year-old woman pleaded guilty to assaulting the three-year-old at a childcare centre in Bathurst. (ABC News: Lani Oataway)
Employment terminated
Following the incident, the childcare centre said in a statement that the educator's employment was terminated immediately after the child's family was notified of the incident.
It said the family "expressed appreciation for the prompt and compassionate manner in which the matter was handled".
"We uphold a strict zero-tolerance policy towards any form of child abuse, neglect, or inappropriate conduct," the centre's statement said.
It said it immediately notified the NSW Department of Education and the Office of the Children's Guardian.
"We have worked closely with the relevant authorities to ensure that all necessary steps were taken, and that the concerns of the family involved were addressed respectfully and thoroughly," the centre said.
It was the second time this year a childcare worker in the Bathurst region had been charged with assaulting a child.
A 24-year-old staff member of a different centre pleaded guilty to forcing a four-year-old onto a bed, causing a 2-centimetre laceration on his head.