The woman, who is aged in her mid-30s, spent five days on remand at the Alexander Maconochie Centre (AMC). Photo: Michelle Kroll.
CONTENT WARNING: This article refers to alleged child abuse.
After a young girl took nude photographs of herself for an art project, then tried to print them off at a Canberra store, her mother was arrested, refused bail and spent five days in jail.
The mother’s lawyer, Peter Woodhouse of CODA Criminal Law, went on to tell the court that the approach of police in the case had been “hard to fathom” and he argued his client’s charge of possessing child exploitation material was “doomed to fail”.
“The police seem to be wanting to allege [the woman] took the photos, but there is no evidence of that, and it is contrary to what both the child and [the woman] told police,” he said.
“The child took the photos herself for her own artistic project.”
ACT Policing alleged attempts were made to print the photos at the printing store in Canberra last week. But the printers malfunctioned so the woman, who is aged in her mid-30s, left the store.
“Soon after, staff at the store allegedly identified multiple child exploitation images that had failed to print,” a police spokesperson said.
The woman was arrested and first faced the ACT Magistrates Court on Saturday (30 May). Magistrate Heidi Robinson then closed the court to the public before refusing bail.
She spent five days in the Alexander Maconochie Centre (AMC) before applying for bail again on Wednesday (3 June). Prosecutors again tried to close the court to the public, although this time Magistrate Glenn Theakston refused their application.
Under questioning, the police officer in charge of the case told the court that 49 digital images had been seized from the printing store. Some of these images were of the girl when she was nude and covered in coloured liquid.
The police officer admitted the girl told police she was “quite artsy” and liked to take photos, and that she removed her clothes herself when her mother wasn’t present.
When Mr Woodhouse raised how the girl told police she took the nude photos of herself, the officer replied, “I’m not aware of the exact words”.
“It’s in the statement of facts [a court document from police that describes the allegations in a case],” he said.
Mr Woodhouse later noted that the statement of facts also stated it was the girl who tried to print off the photos at the store.
He said the woman believed her daughter might be Autistic and asked the police officer if she knew the girl had been upset at the police station.
“I’m aware she was upset about not going home with her mother,” the officer said.
Mr Woodhouse said his client, who had no prior criminal history and had told him the entirety of her life for the last decade had been about her daughter, spent five nights in custody at the AMC, where she had to be kept in isolation due to the threats other inmates made to her.
“They were yelling at her that she was ‘disgusting’ and she was a ‘kiddie fiddler’,” he said.
Prosecutor Susie Kim opposed bail and said that while there had been a discussion about who took the photos, the woman’s charge alleged she possessed child exploitation material.
She said the woman admitted she had seen her daughter taking the photos while nude, so she directed the girl’s attention elsewhere, but then didn’t delete the photos from her phone and forgot they were there.
Ms Kim argued this meant the woman admitted she knew the photos existed, regardless of who took them.
But Magistrate Theakston said he would grant bail.
“It appears there is much to be said for the argument that the prosecution will have some challenge to establishing the case,” he said.
“It is not remarkable that a child would take pictures of themselves. It is also not remarkable that a child might undress themselves.”
The magistrate said the woman’s explanation of what occurred was plausible, and he thought the risk of her endangering her daughter’s safety was very low.
The woman, who legally cannot be named to avoid identifying her daughter, was often seen crying in the courtroom.
“I know this process is difficult,” Magistrate Theakston told her.
“This will pass, so I want you to trust the process.”
The woman has entered a not guilty plea to her charge, and the case has been adjourned to July.
Her daughter has already begun living with other family members, and her mother’s bail conditions mean she is not allowed to be alone with her.
If this story has raised any concerns for you, 1800RESPECT, the national 24-hour sexual assault, family and domestic violence counselling line, can be contacted on 1800 737 732. Help and support are also available through the Canberra Rape Crisis Centre on (02) 6247 2525, the Domestic Violence Crisis Service ACT on (02) 6280 0900, the Sexual Violence Legal Services on 6257 4377 and Lifeline on 13 11 14. In an emergency, call triple zero.
If you have been affected by sexual violence, or someone you know has, you can report it to law enforcement by attending a police station or phoning 131 444.