Family meeting for girl who flushed baby away

A traumatised teenage mother who flushed her baby down a toilet has been referred to Child, Youth and Family and will face a family group conference, police say.

The 15-year-old Polynesian had been visiting a home in Cobham Place, Raureka, on January 24 when her premature baby – weighing barely a kilogram – was flushed down a toilet. The baby ended up in a sewer drain and was plucked out hours later by a plumber.

Police found the girl on Tuesday after a DNA test. She has lived in Hawke's Bay since October and had agreed to be tested.

Detective Senior Sergeant Sam Aberahama said yesterday the girl was upset when police arrived at her home and remained traumatised as police and Child, Youth and Family spoke to her. She had been spoken to during initial inquiries into the dumping of Baby Aaron – but was not someone police had "pointed the finger" at, he said.

She would take part in a family group conference, and had had a medical check.

"We can arrest them under these circumstances – (but) we would have more to gain by referring her to Child, Youth and Family to find out what happened and why, and could it have been prevented."

"Other inquiries" were under way, thought to be related to a second person's involvement in the birth. Police believed two people were present because it was a difficult breech birth, in which the baby comes out feet first.

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