Floreat dad admits lies about starving daughter, controlling household and verbally abusing wife ‘for years’

WARNING: CONFRONTING IMAGES. The father of an emaciated teenager has admitted verbally abusing his wife and controlling their Floreat household, hiding concerns about the girl’s health from his spouse until the last moment. The woman broke down in tears sitting in the dock at their District Court of WA trial on Thursday as her husband of more than 20 years made the bombshell confessions. The man concurred, with no quibbling, under questioning by his wife’s lawyer Michael Perrella that he had accessed her phone without her permission and deleted voicemails, emails and texts without her knowledge. Sometimes, he would answer her phone then take the call out of earshot, later lying about the reason people were calling, the man agreed. He accepted, unhesitatingly, that he had been verbally abusive to his wife, particularly when asked about the phone use, for many years. The dad agreed he dictated how the family was “run” – including care of their only child – and controlled the finances. And he concurred he did everything he could to “shield” his wife from people’s concern around the severely malnourished vegan teen, including not telling her that the Department of Communities had become involved. She only found out the day before they attended a mandated appointment in April 2021 with GP Amy Murdoch, who wanted the child hospitalised immediately. The mum was “horrified” by the State’s intervention, the court was told. Dr Murdoch weighed the avid dance student, who was about to turn 17, and she was just 27.3kg, rising to 28.1kg six days later when she was finally admitted to Perth Children’s Hospital. But in emails the father sent the Department of Communities and Dr Craig Berg in late November 2020, he claimed she weighed 43kg and had a body mass index of 19.4. The man testified “all of the measurements are inaccurate”, saying he had simply estimated them then used an online BMI calculator. Dr Murdoch found her BMI was in fact 12.5, compared to a healthy range of 18.5-25. Under cross-examination by prosecutor Jenha Winter, the father also detailed how it “took about one minute” to alter his daughter’s birth certificate so she was believed to be two years younger at her dance classes. The man pleaded guilty to a forgery charge at the start of the trial and said he simply used a PDF editor. Asked why he did it, he said his daughter had been teased by a dance classmate for her hypermobility - known as being double-jointed. She had pretended to be younger because “she just felt it made her fit in better”, the man claimed, and the teacher then put it in the system, so he ran with it. The father said he eventually accepted the girl was underweight but disagreed with expert opinion at admission that she was at risk of refeeding syndrome, which can cause cardiac arrest. That was because worrying electrolyte “markers” from a blood test taken just before she went in “weren’t there”. “I didn’t have concerns at that time”. He replied “No” when asked if he had done anything to restrict her calories. The man agreed he was a “hands on parent”, revealing the now 20-year-old had moved back into the family home once she turned 18 and the State ceased to have any say in her life. The trial continues. If you need help or support for an eating disorder or body image issue, please call Butterfly’s National Helpline on 1800 334 673 or e-mail support@butterfly.org.au