Girl, 12, pregnant after being allowed to live with boyfriend

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,25643137-2,00.html

A 12-YEAR-OLD girl who was allowed to live with her 15-year-old boyfriend is set to become one of Australia's youngest mothers.

The girl had been sharing a bed with the father of her baby from the age of 11, after her mother allowed him to move into their home despite her father's pleas to authorities.

When her father complained to staff at the NSW Department of Community Services helpline several times, they failed to do anything about the situation, The Daily Telegraph reports.

Police said they were also unable to intervene because both children were under the age of consent. If the boy had been 18 or older, police would have immediately begun a criminal investigation.

When the girl's father had to take custody of her in March, he discovered his daughter was pregnant.

He is outraged it took the shock news his child was to be a mother for government agencies to finally take notice.

The department admitted yesterday it had failed to act earlier because staff were working on more urgent cases.

Staff from DoCS and the state departments of health and education are now clamouring to help the child, the father has told his local member, Dubbo MP Dawn Fardell.

"He came to me. The police said 'Our hands are tied'," Ms Fardell said yesterday.

"The father said to me it looks like he and his partner will raise the baby. They are happy to do so.

"All the agencies have come in now, and there were different options for her.

"It is a child having a child. We need to surely look at what we can do. Someone needs to be accountable for this."

Senior police said because the children were both under the age of consent and the girl failed to make a complaint of sexual abuse when she was interviewed, they were unable to act.

Details of the girl's life emerged in the NSW Parliament earlier this month.

Her mother was placed in a mental health unit in March and when her father took over his daughter's care and went to police to report the pregnancy, she ran away.

The girl has since returned to her father. Neither can be identified for legal reasons.

DoCS admitted last night it had received the father's pleas for help.

"Because of more urgent cases, the department took some action to investigate this case, but acknowledges more intensive casework could have been done," a spokeswoman said.

The girl will be offered continuing counselling, parenting advice and educational services. A plan is also in place for the care of the baby, expected later this year

Thats insane!!!
We are starting to have some serious problems in Australia

how could her mother alow that???? thats so wrong. that poor child. who is going to look after the baby when mum is just a baby herself???

One of my friends in my teenage years had a baby just after her 13th birthday. She came from a good home (her father was a police officer) and she turned out to be a really good mum. I think she did miss out on being a normal teenager as she still wanted to socialise with as all but it was hard with a baby. She had to miss formals, sleepovers, movie nights etc.

Thats just plain wrong.

that is unbelievable!!!! how could any mother allow that?

if she had done it herself then so be it but the mother shouldnt of allowed this AT ALL to happen not at that bloody age
god sakes i didnt even get my period til i was 11 and i was so grossed out and hid it for ages cause i was embarrassed how is she gonna be able to look after it
will she be able to even carry it to term cause of her size? ive heard its a struggle for ppl under 150cms to carry a child and it can sometimes cause preterm labour as the baby simply runs out of room
it will effect her growth, childhood, schooling wat if she drops out of school? its hard enough these days to get a job and i dropped out half way through yr 11 shes what yr 7/8????
im not disgusted in her even though its still her doing im disgusted in her mother for allowing it and dhs for not stepping in to fix the problem
and i always thought under the age of 18 it was against the law to have sex with someone 2 yrs older or younger then u? after u were both 18 it didnt matter on the age? maybe im wrong but thats what i was always led to believe

This is just wrong..i watched it on the news and she is due to have this baby in the nxt few months so what was she 11 when she fell pregnant..man her mother is a B!tch for this to have happened let alone letting her 15yr old bf sleep in the same room grrr i ahve 11,13,14yr old daughters and they watched it on the news and they were very much grossed out on this...they dont even have BF's yet...and if they did theres no friggin way id be letting them sleep in the same friggin room NO WAY...the mother should ahve more sence but as we can see she didnt at all..Im very disgusted with the girls mother..the girl is a baby having a bloody baby...grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

my mother didnt even allow my bfs to stay the night when i was 11 in another room let alone the same bedroom and in the same bed thats what i find wrong
ffs she was still complaining about ppl of the opposite sex staying after i had portia and i was 16 then
i just dont get why any mother would allow it

It's a sad story.
Hopefully the 12 yr old can still finish her high school education after she has her bub so she can provide for herself and her baby in the future.

i hope no one is offended that i say this, but i'm surprised that they are even letting her keep it.

I mean she is 12, she hasn't even gone through puberty yet, that's just a joke.

I herad that her father is going to help her and docs and i think she may still beb doing school too...thats what i heard on the news the other nite...

Matilda wrote:

i hope no one is offended that i say this, but i'm surprised that they are even letting her keep it.

I mean she is 12, she hasn't even gone through puberty yet, that's just a joke.

I tend to agree with you Matilda on this subject..
It's just plain crazy!

MissMon wrote:

Matilda wrote:

i hope no one is offended that i say this, but i'm surprised that they are even letting her keep it.

I mean she is 12, she hasn't even gone through puberty yet, that's just a joke.

I tend to agree with you Matilda on this subject..
It's just plain crazy!

Yeah me and all..i say shes a baby having a baby...

MuM24GiRLz&1OnThEwAy wrote:

MissMon wrote:

Matilda wrote:

i hope no one is offended that i say this, but i'm surprised that they are even letting her keep it.

I mean she is 12, she hasn't even gone through puberty yet, that's just a joke.

I tend to agree with you Matilda on this subject..
It's just plain crazy!

Yeah me and all..i say shes a baby having a baby...

I agree

i agree but i guess abortion isnt something anyone can MAKE u do regardless of age, same with adoption
its up to the mother in the long run (meaning the 12 yr old not her mum) her mum needs ALOT of help what she did was wrong

Unbelievable!
I look at Gem who's just turned 12 and just can't imagine it!

well i heard she is 5 months pregnant so having an abortion would be out of the question (if she was under 12 weeks then that's a diff story).

But the baby should not be in her care at all until she is of legal age (even 16), cause she's 12, how the hell is she going to look after a baby, she is just a baby herself.