Robert John Herbert Harlen

Nineteen month old Robert Harlen's mother was out for an hour. Her partner, Graham Ross Sperry, who was babysitting, was later jailed for Robert's death from injuries 'consistent with shaking'. The baby had also internal injuries. Sperry received a 3 year sentence. Source: 4theKids.

1990 Robert Harlem 19 months old. Died of injuries consistent with shaking, and internal injuries. Graham Ross Sperry, jailed for his death. Source: https://childabuseinnz.wordpress.com/my-memorial/

Kathryn’s Story: How the Government spent well over $100,000 and 15 years pursuing a chronically-ill beneficiary mother for a debt she should not have by Catriona MacLennan https://www.cpag.org.nz/assets/Publications/4-0%2031964%20Kathryn%2...

While Sperry worked, Kathryn looked after his child Ian. Her children at that time were Keith, who was 9, Timothy, 6, Elizabeth 4 years and 11 months, and Robbie, who was 18 months old. On 8 November 1989, Kathryn and the children’s lives changed forever. Kathryn waited for Sperry to come home from work so she could go out and buy cigarettes. She had started smoking a lighter cigarette as she was trying to give up. When Sperry arrived home, Robbie was already in bed. Kathryn drove to Manurewa to a shop she knew sold light cigarettes. Keith went with her. “When I came back, Robbie was on the bed. He was there with the kids. He made this horrible noise I will never forget in my entire life. I wanted to take him to the hospital. Sperry wouldn’t let me. I ran to the top of the road to use the phone. A friend waited at the top of the road to show the ambulance where to go. They asked me to do CPR. I didn’t know how to do it.” The paramedics got Robbie’s life signs back and placed him in the ambulance. “Just being in the ambulance with him, I didn’t even think about the other kids. I just had to go. They wouldn’t let me sit in the back with him. They thought I had done something to him. The driver drove slowly. We got to the hospital. They took him into one room and me into another room. The police came. Eventually the doctor told me he was not a very well boy and probably wouldn’t make it. I screamed at him that he was a doctor and his job was to save lives and ‘Get back in there and save Robbie’s life’.” Later, the doctor came back and told Kathryn that Robbie had died. Source: Kathryn’s Story: How the Government spent well over $100,000 and 15 years pursuing a chronically-ill beneficiary mother for a debt she should not have by Catriona MacLennan https://www.cpag.org.nz/assets/Publications/4-0%2031964%20Kathryn%2...