'Devil child' to be taken away from mother, judge rules
A four-year-old girl who called herself a "devil child" is to be put up for adoption after being sexually abused in her home, a judge has ruled.
After a hearing at a Milton Keynes family court, Judge Rebecca Brown said the child's mother failed to protect her from being abused by her partner.
The girl's mouth had been taped up and ankles bound together to keep her in bed, the written ruling said.
Her mother had argued that the little girl "told proven untruths".
Judge Brown did not identify the girl or her parents but said litigation began after concerns were raised by social workers at Buckinghamshire County Council.
There was "compelling evidence" the girl had been abused by her mother's partner and encountered "inappropriate sexual experiences", she said.
The girl lived in "a harsh, critical and abusive environment", the judge said.
Her temporary foster carer kept records of what the child said and did and told Judge Brown she had described herself as a "devil child".
She often said "I'm bad, aren't I?", washed her hands repeatedly and appeared to have a compulsion to eat, the judge was told.
On one day she asked to wash her hands more than 50 times and said "please tell daddy I've been good" and mummy "headbutts me" and "bites me".
She told her foster carer she would "show what mummy does to me" and put a strip of sticky tape over her mouth.
When her foster carer asked how that made her feel, the girl replied "I cry, I'm scared," said Judge Brown.
The judge said the mother and her partner had argued that the youngster "told proven untruths and therefore cannot be believed" but she ruled that the little girl should be removed from her mother's care.