Kerri Wharf: Ex-childcare worker handed seven-month suspended jail term for scratching five children

A former childcare worker who deliberately scratched five children at a Banksia Grove childcare centre has walked free from court despite being handed a seven-month jail term for the “cruel” and “abhorrent, pernicious and bizarre” crimes. In handing Kerri Wharf the suspended sentence, Magistrate Matthew Walton said in his 20-year career he struggled to understand her bizarre behaviour adding that he had no doubt the now 28-year-old’s assaults on the children, who were aged between 18 months and three years, had left the community “astonished and disgusted” by the “pernicious actions”. “The assaults were unprovoked and committed against victims who offered no resistance,” Mr Walton said. “(It) has been difficult to comprehend. The behaviour is far outside the norm. It undermines the basic fundamentals of the care of young children.” Wharf was charged with 33 counts of aggravated assault occasioning bodily harm in relation to 22 children that prosecutors claimed she injured while working at Goodstart Early Learning Centre between June and August 2020. Some of the alleged incidents were said to have occurred on the same day and all the alleged victims were aged between 18 months and four years. After long and protracted trial that involved more than 270 exhibits and 50 prosecution witnesses and was held in two parts over the course of more than a year and a lengthy wait for the verdict, Wharf was convicted of just five counts in July. Before Mr Walton began his remarks he dealt with the issue of Wharf’s legal fees awarding the ex-child educator $201,889.13 in costs to reflect the 28 counts she was not guilty of and the complex nature of the trial. During the trial, Wharf’s lawyer claimed her client was a “scapegoat” with the centre’s manager needing someone to blame for the injuries, highlighting that no one witnessed Wharf scratch any child. But prosecutors claimed the then 23-year-old was “always present or near the child” who suffered the injuries. In arguing for imprisonment, prosecutor Laura Campbell described Wharf’s conduct as “brazen and calculated” and involved a degree of “planning and deception” adding that she intended to harm the kids when she scratched them. She also said the now 28-year-old had shown no remorse or contrition for that she had done. The court was told Wharf continued to maintain her innocence. Caley Catto, Wharf’s lawyer, argued while her client’s actions were a complete breach of trust, the injuries were “relatively minor” adding one scratch was “unable to be seen”. But Mr Walton said he found her conduct to sit in the mid to upper range of seriousness because of a number of factors including she was an employee who had been employed to protect young extremely vulnerable children. “The assaults were of a cruel nature,” Mr Walton added. The magistrate said because Wharf maintained her innocence, which he said she was entitled to do, he was unable to find she had any remorse. He sentenced her to seven months jail, but suspended the term for seven months on conditions she is supervised and takes part in programs.