Toddler contracts gonorrhea: court

The father, who cannot be identified, has always denied he had any sexual contact with the girl after he was charged in 2012 with two counts of sexual intercourse with a child under the age of 10.

Authorities were alerted when the girl was diagnosed with the infection in 2011.

It was later discovered the father was also infected.

The child was spoken to by social workers and psychologists, but did not disclose any sexual abuse and there were no physical signs of sexual contact.

One sexual health expert, associate professor David Templeton, prepared a report stating the most likely form of transfer from the father to the child was by sexual contact.

Defence barrister Simon Harben SC suggested to Dr Templeton in Newcastle Local Court on Tuesday that his report lacked objectivity and was slanted in favour of the prosecution.

‘‘I wouldn’t accept that,’’ Dr Templeton said.

The hearing was adjourned for one month so an expert can fly from the US to provide further evidence.

Newcastle Local Court heard there had been a number of case studies done on the spread of gonorrhea among family members and children over the years, but Dr Templeton said those cases studies were the weakest form of evidence.

He said the best evidence would be a scientific study, but explained that such a study would be almost impossible to do.

He added that some of the case studies referred to included outbreaks at children’s homes where there were no reports of sexual abuse at the time, but it was now widely known that some children were sexually abused in such institutions.

Mr Harben suggested the infection could have been passed by a number of different means including when bathing the child, using the same towels or face washers or other items in the home.

‘‘You can’t discount the possibility of non-sexual contact in this case,’’ Mr Harben asked.

‘‘Correct,’’ Dr Templeton said.