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Joel Papanui
.
Assault on his baby son in April 2006
.
.
none known
Born 1982
unknown
Sentenced to 4 years with parole eligibility after 16 months in October 2007
Background
From the Manawatu Standard 06/10/2007
The country's state child protection agency came under fire in the High Court at Palmerston North yesterday during the sentencing of a man said to have cracked under the stress of bringing up his baby son alone. Child, Youth and Family was approached by Joel Papanui's mother in January last year because she was worried he couldn't cope alone with his baby and needed help. But the problem wasn't fully investigated by CYF and no support was offered to the 24-year-old Papanui, said Justice John Wild. He said the agency had since agreed that it had failed and that with support Papanui might have coped "rather than cracking as you did". For a few months later, in April last year, he hurt the then-11- month-old so badly that he would almost certainly need care for the rest of his life.
Justice Wild said medical experts found the baby's injuries were consistent with "shaken baby syndrome with impact". He said the effects of the injuries could be likened to those of a severe stroke in an adult. The baby's left arm and leg were impaired and he was likely to have speech and language problems for life. It happened between April 8 and 13 last year when Papanui was living with his son in a bach at Himatangi Beach . The baby's mother had abandoned him shortly after he was born and, after a conference, CYF gave Papanui care "somewhat against the better judgment of your family, especially your mother". "You were determined to prove you could do it," despite his mother's doubts, the judge said. But on April 11 the baby was ailing, and the stress culminated in Papanui shaking it violently, causing bleeding in the brain and eyes.
The baby was then either bashed or rammed by his head into a hard surface or thrown on the floor, fracturing his skull. Flown by air ambulance to Starship Hospital in Auckland , the baby was put on full life support and at one stage stopped breathing. He was now out of hospital, but would probably need life-long care. "He is progressing as well as can be expected," the judge said. Papanui was found guilty by a Palmerston North High Court jury in June of wounding his son with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. "In the end you snapped," Justice Wild told Papanui, who was frustrated, he said, by his son's incessant crying. The judge said no sentence would punish Papanui more "than the knowledge you have of the effects of your actions". But it was important that violence against vulnerable children was denounced and offenders were brought to account for it.
Earlier, Crown prosecutor Ben Vanderkolk said the severe violence suffered by the victim was another example of such cases coming before the courts. Such severe violence and long- term harm "must be denounced", he told the judge. "It is a tragedy that this child who is now 24-months-old has a condition that usually afflicts the aged. "Papanui's lawyer Kit Clews said he accepted he "must get punished" for what he had done. "This man lost it," he said. Justice Wild said he accepted that what happened was a spontaneous response by Papanui and that it was admirable he took on the responsibility of caring for him alone. Papanui was now "truly sorry" for what he had done, he said, jailing him for four years on a charge which, he said, carried a maximum of 14 years.
From the Dominion Post 06/10/2007
A HIGH COURT judge has criticised Child, Youth and Family for failing to fully investigate a solo father who later shook his baby son and left him brain-damaged. Joel Papanui, 24, of Palmerston North, was jailed for four years yesterday for violently shaking, then possibly ramming or throwing, his 11-month-old son against a hard surface. The child was left with a skull fracture and bleeding in the brain and eye. The injuries left him paralysed down the left side of his body and he was expected to develop serious speech and language problems. Papanui had been granted custody of the boy when he was abandoned by his mother, but in January 2006 Papanui's mother complained to CYF that he was unable to care for the child properly. CYF kept the child in Papanui's care, but that April he "lost it" and attacked the crying boy at their Himatangi Beach home.
In the High Court at Palmerston North, Justice John Wild said Papanui lacked the skills to look after the child alone, and should have asked for help.
But he criticised CYF for not investigating his mother's claims thoroughly. "CYFS have acknowledged this failing on their part. If further support and monitoring had been given you may not have cracked as you did. "After the sentencing, Child Youth and Family operations general manager Lorraine Williams said a family conference had been held after the mother's complaint, but the social workers involved believed placing the boy with his father was a good outcome. "It is clear now that there was a great deal of pressure on Mr Papanui, and with the benefit of hindsight we acknowledge more could have been done. The harm suffered by this child is a tragedy for the family and all those involved with his case."
Crown prosecutor Ben Vanderkolk told the court the crime was made worse by the extreme violence and vulnerability of the child. He said the skull fracture was the equivalent of falling from a one- storey building or serious car accident, and the child had stopped breathing when taken into Palmerston North Hospital the day after the assault. "The tragedy of this case is the (boy( will be afflicted for the rest of his life with a condition that usually afflicts the aged. "Justice Wild said Papanui's determination to raise the boy on his own was admirable, but it went with a tremendous responsibility.
The child cried continually from an ear infection and Papanui had done all he knew to try to comfort him before lashing out in frustration. The attack was not premeditated, Papanui had no history of violence, and though he had pleaded not guilty and was convicted by a jury, he was truly remorseful. No sentence could punish Papanui more than the realisation of what his actions had had done, Justice Wild said. The boy was now cared for by Papanui's mother.
