Updated ,first published
Police are investigating whether cannibalism was a factor in the “extremely confronting” murder of a four-year-old boy on the Central Coast on Saturday, whose mother has been charged with murder.
A 32-year-old woman arrived at Wyong Police Station of her own accord on Saturday afternoon, leading officers to quickly form grave concerns about the safety of a child.
Following the woman’s arrival at the station, police conducted a welfare check at a unit on Byron Street in Wyong. They found the body of her son with significant arm injuries.
The Herald is prohibited from identifying the boy or the mother under laws protecting the identities of child victims of crime.
“I’m prepared to say publicly at the moment, it was an extremely confronting scene,” Superintendent Chad Gillies from Tuggerah Lakes police said at a press conference on Sunday morning.
Police sources not authorised to speak publicly said on Sunday that officers are investigating whether cannibalism was involved in the preschooler’s death.
The coroner will conduct a post-mortem in the coming days to determine the cause of death.
The woman, who was previously known to police, was arrested at the police station and charged on Sunday morning with murder (domestic violence).
Police have established a crime scene and Tuggerah Lakes detectives are investigating the incident alongside the homicide squad.
Investigators have seized the woman’s vehicle for forensic analysis and removed a number of items from the crime scene for analysis.
“Whenever a child is a victim of violent crime, and whenever a child is murdered, it strikes at the core of community,” Gillies said.
“That’s why it’s absolutely important to work through this methodically. We try to understand what’s happened, why it’s happened, and from my perspective, we owe that to that little boy to make sure that we get the exact circumstances and present them to the court in due course.”
The woman faced the bail division court on Sunday, where she did not apply for bail, and it was formally refused. She will next face court in September.
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