A 19-year-old Latvian childminder has pleaded guilty to wilfully assaulting, ill-treating and neglecting her one-year-old baby niece.
In the case at Ennis Circuit Court, the teenager has pleaded guilty to wilfully assaulting, neglecting, ill-treating, abandoning and exposing the child in a manner likely to cause unnecessary suffering or injury to her health at an address in Ennis on May 21st last year.
The teenager has pleaded guilty to the charge in connection with breaking the baby’s arm.
When the case was before the District Court last year, Judge Patrick Durcan said the injury the baby sustained was “very serious” and declined jurisdiction after taking into account the age of the injured party.
Det Claire O’Shaughnessy told the District Court the baby had turned one a day after she was admitted to hospital on May 24th last.
Det O’Shaughnessy said: “The baby was admitted to hospital with a spiral fracture to her upper right arm.”
‘Unexplained injury’
She added: “It was an unexplained injury and it was referred to us by [Child and Family Agency] Tusla due to the unexplained nature of it. The child was not walking at the time.”
The accused, the maternal aunt of the baby, was at the time in paid employment by her sister and her sister’s partner to look after the baby and two of the baby’s siblings for a number of months.
At Ennis Circuit Court on Tuesday, counsel for the accused, Rebecca Treacy BL, requested a probation report for the accused and an interpreter to be present at the sentencing hearing.
Counsel for the State, Lorcan Connolly BL, said a date can be allocated for the sentencing hearing on March 25th. Mr Connolly said the sentencing will not take very long as it relates to one incident.
