He hurted me in the shower

I view hundreds of articles each day and have become accustomed to death and cruelty. But every now and then a story will stay with me - the headline or by-line replaying in my mind. Four days ago I read a headline - a few simple, innocent words that said so much. They were the words of a three year old girl.

"He hurted me in the shower."

That is how the tiny tot described to police how her mother's partner put her under a scalding shower as punishment for wetting her pants. I once spilled a bucket of scalding water on my stomach and have a fair idea of how it must have felt. The difference however, is I had no idea it was going to happen, this little girl probably did.

When I have a shower, I first turn on the hot water then add cold before stepping under. I can not imagine being forced under that hot shower and her words come back to me. Don't get me wrong, I do not dwell on it, but I can't ignore it either.

Her mother also confessed to whipping her daughter with a kettle cord for the same "offence."

The Sydney Morning Herald describes how "the pair waited until the little girl's eyes swelled from her burns before they called an ambulance." She suffered burns to her shoulder, back, legs and substantial bruising.

"Dirty crepe bandages covered her wounds, and doctors administered an intravenous morphine drip to remove the bandages and ease her pain."

The couple can not be named because a minor is involved, (even if minors commit crimes, their names can not be publicised) but the woman also has another son - born just last April. That little boy is five months old and is suffering cannabis and amphetamine withdrawal.

The judge said "both had entered early guilty pleas and had no previous record of child abuse, however, there was no other appropriate sentence than imprisonment"

They were jailed for a maximum of two years with a non-parole period of one year to expire on October 18 next year.

There is no parole for the little girl who was sentenced to remember being , "hurted" in the shower for the rest of her life.

* These bastards are now out of jail, their sentence over. For the little girl however, there is no early release.

Wherever you may be - be safe

Copyright Mike Hitchen Online, Lane Cove, NSW, Australia. All rights reserved