A woman has been charged with concealing the birth of a deceased child after the body of a baby boy was found in a storm water drain in Perth.
The woman, in her 30s, had been assisting police with enquiries since Wednesday following the discovery of the infant on Monday afternoon.
Police had earlier confirmed the infant had been placed in the storm water drain in recent days.
On Friday, the WA police homicide chief, Acting Insp Jessica Securo, said police would allege that the child was in the drain for “a short amount of time”.
Securo said the woman, confirmed to be the infant’s mother, was continuing to receive “appropriate care and support”.
She said police had been alerted about the woman by members of the community, which Securo said may have saved her life.
“Anyone in this woman’s situation I would describe as vulnerable,” she said.
“Our ultimate priority was getting her that medical care, getting her that mental health support, getting everything she needed in that space.”
The woman is co-operating with investigators and forensic testing continues to determine exactly how long the baby was in the drain for, although it is believed to be a short amount of time, Insp Securo said.
“We’re extremely lucky that the two tradesmen came across that child,” she said.
“It is a highly distressing and confronting thing for anyone to come across and we’re just thankful that the tradesmen alerted police as quickly as they did.”
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Securo declined to comment on the age of the infant, and whether he was deceased at the time of delivery.
“At this stage, our information suggests the baby was not killed violently,” she said.
“This, of course, is highly distressing for the entire community, detectives and as you can imagine, the family of the infant.”
“I wish to add that if this matter has adversely affected or impacted you, there are support services out there, please engage them,” she said.
Earlier this week, the WA premier, Roger Cook, had called it a “horrifying series of events” that had rocked the community, with flowers and teddy bears being left at the drain site.
“This goes to the heart of everyone’s sense of humanity, a small child whose life has passed under tragic circumstances,” he said.
– with Australian Associated Press
