Domestic Violence Support Worker Guilty of Assaulting Autistic Son

A 39-year-old woman who worked with children who had experienced or were at risk of harm has been found guilty of assaulting her autistic teenage son in a "snap" attack.

The woman, who cannot be named to protect her son's identity, pleaded guilty to assault occasioning bodily harm in Hervey Bay District Court today. At the time of the offence in January last year, she had worked for seven years at a support service for children.

According to the court, the woman had been "pacing and crying" at home after a long day managing a client who had been arguing with their child. She got into an argument with her son, who has autism spectrum disorder and weighs about 89 kilograms, and "felt intimidated by him".

Her barrister, Lara Soldi, told the court that her client began hyperventilating during the argument "and then effectively snapped". The woman threw her phone at her son, rushed towards him and punched him in the nose and cheek.

The court heard that the boy sustained a deviated septum, nosebleeds and bruising to his eye sockets. Following the assault, he packed his belongings and went to his father's home, where he had stayed since the incident. The boy had not spoken with his mother again during that time.

Ms Soldi said her client was a victim of domestic violence herself, perpetrated by her father and a former partner, and that was the reason she had chosen to work in the domestic violence support field. The woman was remorseful for her actions and her blue card was cancelled because of the incident.

"She knows how serious this is … given her education and her work history, this is not lost on her," Ms Soldi said.

Judge Nathan Jarro described it as "very ironic" that someone who had worked for a children's domestic violence support service had offended against her own son. He sentenced the woman to 18 months' probation and ordered her to pay $3,000 in compensation to her son by June next year. No conviction was recorded.