Cameron Douglas Smith: Police officer acquitted of assaulting baby son breaks silence

A WA Police officer who was acquitted of assaulting his baby boy has broken his silence, saying “I pray that no other innocent family ever has to go through what we did”. Cameron Douglas Smith, who was charged with aggravated assault occasioning bodily harm in late 2023, was acquitted of the charge — which he denied — in Perth Magistrates Court earlier this year. It was alleged that Mr Smith injured his son in August 2023, in Nedlands, resulting in the child needing medical treatment. The court was told the boy, who was born premature, had difficulty bottle feeding and was being treated in hospital for oral ulcers when doctors saw a laceration on his lip. They called the child abuse squad months later after the infant’s twin sister presented with mouth bleeding. After almost two years of scrutiny and being unable to care for his children, Magistrate Donna Webb found Mr Smith not guilty in her reserved decision this month, ruling the boy’s injury was an accident. This week, Mr Smith was awarded $50,000 in legal costs, shy of the $66,000 he had been seeking from the State. In a statement, Mr Smith detailed the toll the allegations had on his family, saying he was “just a dad who loves his kids”. “I want to respond to the stories published on 6 and 13 September about my case. Yes, I’ve been cleared — but that doesn’t erase what happened to me and my family,” he said. “For more than two years, I was treated like I was the most dangerous man alive. “Every word I said was twisted. Caseworkers jumped at the sound of my voice, like I was a threat just for being in the room. But the people who actually sat with me, who supervised my time with my kids, told me again and again that they didn’t believe I had done anything wrong. “They said we were one of the most caring families they worked with. Still, none of that mattered. No one listened.” At trial, high-profile silk Tom Percy detailed the huge toll the case had taken on his client, who had missed the first two years of his children’s lives because they were removed from the family home. Mr Smith and his wife were monitored electronically, had their phones seized and his bail conditions included staying 20m away from high schools, primary schools and daycare centres. The police constable said the strict bail conditions meant he missed “their first birthdays” and was unable to witness their first steps. “I didn’t get to hear their first words. I missed the simple, everyday things — cuddling them after a nap, hearing them laugh, being there when they needed me. Those moments are gone,” he said. “I’ll never get them back, and that breaks me every single day.” He said both the doctors and nurses and Perth Children’s Hospital “cried with us when our babies were taken”. “Some still reach out to us now, saying they can’t believe this happened to a family like ours.” “And their mum… she was never accused of anything, yet she lost her babies for over a year while they were in foster care. “She missed their first cuddles, their milestones, the chance to just be a mum when her kids needed her most. The system punished her too, for nothing. “Even now, with Child Protection finally out of our lives, we’re left with the wreckage — debt, lost careers, trauma treatment, and two little kids who spent their first years without their mum and dad. “I’m not a monster. I’m just a dad who loves his kids. And I pray that no other innocent family ever has to go through what we did.” Despite being acquitted, a WA Police spokeswoman said on Monday that Mr Smith — a constable in the metro area —“remains stood down pending an internal disciplinary process”.