It has been revealed that the Department of Child Protection of Western Australia knew convicted paedophile David Farnell had a child in his care.
Mr Farnell and his wife had two children via Pattaramon Chanbua, a Thai surrogate who claimed the couple abandoned one of the infants, Gammy, who has Down syndrome.
On Tuesday night, Child Protection minister Helen Morton told parliament the department was aware that Mr Farnell, who had been previously convicted of 22 child sex offences, had a child in his care in May.
While it was revealed in August that Mr Farnell was a convicted paedophile, Ms Morton said the department knew of his criminal convictions much earlier.
"On the 15th of May, 2014, information was provided to the Department of Child Protection and Family Support that a Mr Farnell had been previously convicted for child sexual abuse offences and had a child in his care through an unknown arrangement," she said.
"However at that time Mr Farnell's address and circumstances were unknown."
"After ascertaining Mr Farnell's whereabouts, attempts to contact the Farnell family commenced immediately via home visits on the 4th of August 2014, on the 6th of August 2014."
"Telephone contact occurred between Mr Farnell, other family members and the department."
A Department of Child Protection investigation into the circumstances of the case is ongoing.
