CRUELTY TO CHILDREN.

Taranaki Daily News, 7 September 1917, Page 6

CRUELTY TO CHILDREN.

A HORRIBLE CASE. WOMAN SENT TO PRISON. An elderly woman, named Bessie S. Oldham, was charged in the Auckland Police Court on Monday with ill-treating three children in a manner likely to be injurious to their health. When the evidence in respect of two of the children was heard in July, it was stated that accused had answered 30 advertisements regarding adopting children, and the two children were committed to an industrial school as being not under proper Control. With regard to the third child, aged 2i years, evidence was given by a neighbor that accused locked the child in a lavatory for nearly three hours; that the child was severely thrashed on one occasion, and that it was generally neglected. Since the child had been in other care it had improved immensely. A woman who had stayed in the accused's house for a week said the house resembled a marine store. It was very dirty, and accused was under the influence of liquor nearly all the time. A witness, who now has charge of the child, said when she received it is seemed frightened and flinched when .spoken to. Mr. Matthews, instructed by Mr. J. Beale, said drink was the cause of the trouble, and asked for leniency. Chief-Deteetive McMahon said that judging by the number of advertisements dealing with the adoption of children that accused had answered, she was evidently on a dangerous track, and if the police had not investigated the numerous complaints it was hard to say what tfes results to the children might have been. The evidence, however, showed that the police bad been just in time, and three children had been saved. Possibly His Worship might feel inclined to do something to deter others from embarking in a similar business. Ever since the case was first heard, he, the speaker, had seen the accused hanging a'bout cab-stands talking to soldiers, and under the influence of drink. The magistrate said it was one of the worst cases he had had before bim, and the conditions under which the children lived were most repellant. It was a horrible case, and he was glad the neighbors had protested. Unfortunately the maximum term was three months' imprisonment, but accused was going to get every hour of it.