Latest news with #nanny
Daily Mail
a day ago
- General
- Daily Mail
Bruce Lehrmann's shock new job as selfie emerges of disgraced political staffer's low-key lifestyle while he lives off Centrelink benefits
Former political staffer Bruce Lehrmann has moved interstate to become a full-time live-in nanny. Lehrmann, 29, has reportedly found his 'happy sanctuary' living with a close family friend and watching their two children, outside of NSW. The children, aged under 10, call Lehrmann 'the Manny' and 'Uncle Bruce'. It's understood Lehrmann took the unpaid role in exchange for a space in the family's home following two criminal court cases and a defamation defeat which left his reputation, and finances, in tatters. Lehrmann, who relies on Centrelink benefits, was hired by the family 18 months ago. A photo showed Lehrmann smiling directly at the camera while sitting next to one of the children at a cinema. Lehrmann was dressed in a light, blue collared shirt with a cap and sunglasses resting on his head, while the child held a Village Cinemas popcorn bucket. His lawyer Zali Burrows told the Daily Telegraph the job has been a haven for his client. 'Bruce relishes the trusted role he has in the children's lives and the family really adores him,' she said. 'It's been a safe, happy sanctuary, away from the mental and financial turmoil.' In August 2021, Lehrmann was identified as the Liberal Party staffer accused of raping Brittany Higgins inside Parliament House in 2019. Ms Higgins had shared her alleged sexual assault with Channel 10 journalist Lisa Wilkinson in an interview aired on The Project. Lehrmann has always denied the allegations. Lehrmann faced the ACT Supreme Court in late 2022 but the case was dropped after a juror brought outside research into the deliberation room. A second trial was also aborted, citing concerns for Ms Higgins' mental health. In 2023, Lehrmann launched legal proceedings against Wilkinson and Channel 10, claiming he'd been defamed by The Project episode. The ruling of the lawsuit left Lehrmann in ruin with Justice Michael Lee finding, on the balance of probabilities, he raped Ms Higgins. He has appealed the ruling with the case to go before the Federal Court of Australia in August. Lehrmann is also fighting allegations he raped a woman in Queensland in 2021. The woman alleged Lehrmann assaulted her twice on the morning of October 10, 2021, after they met in a strip club the previous night in Toowoomba, 150km west of Brisbane. She claimed she and Lehrmann ingested cocaine during the night out and had consensual sex at a house in east Toowoomba about 4am. The woman alleged she was woken about 10am by Lehrmann sexually assaulting her. Lehrmann's former defence barrister Andrew Hoare said at a prior committal hearing the alleged victim was too intoxicated to remember giving consent and Lehrmann could have mistakenly believed he had consent for further sex acts. The case is set to return to court on June 20.
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- General
- Daily Mail
The wealthy Manhattan enclave where residents are 'spying' on nannies and 'snitching' on their bad behavior
Nannies in a New York City neighborhood are now living in a permanent state of paranoia with wealthy residents prepared to name and shame those who behave badly on a popular Facebook group. While the Moms of the Upper East Side (MUES) group serves as a lifeline to its 33,000 members, nannies are now afraid they will find their picture one day plastered across its message boards. One mother recalled the panicked moment she saw a photo of her daughter alongside an ominous message about her nanny's behavior. 'If you recognize this blonde girl with pigtails I saw yesterday afternoon around 78th and 2nd, please DM me,' the message read. 'I think you will want to know what your nanny did.' She knew instantly it was her daughter and found herself spiraling over what her nanny - whom, it then dawned on her, she barely knew - could have done with her two-year-old. After enquiring after what happened, she was told her nanny allegedly roughly handled the child and threated to cancel a zoo trip if they didn't 'shut up'. The accused nanny denied the incident, but suddenly trust was gone and she let the nanny go before putting her daughter into a daycare that offered a livestream feed. The Facebook group also told many similar tales of nannies allegedly dealing out punishments of smacking, withholding food, leaving children unsupervised or neglecting the child. Another post photographed a woman sitting on her phone with her headphones in as an infant crawled next to her. 'I was really mad watching the whole scene,' the post said. 'I'm not exaggerating, this person NEVER stopped [using] the phone during the whole class. The baby was TOTALLY ignored.' Whilst some shared the outrage of the post, with one who said :'This makes me so upset. If this was the nanny, she's on her phone during working hours and that's not OK. If this was my kid I'd be so p***ed.' Others highlighted the issues with these posts that are often lacking context. 'Stop assuming the worst about people and situations you know nothing about,' one reply said. 'This is not abuse. It's not dangerous, and it's absolutely none of your business.' However, many brought up the issue of how much is costs to employ a nanny on the Upper East Side of New York City. Some of the most experienced and qualified nannies can charge up to $150,000 a year. But the fear of being caught on camera, in even the most innocent of situations, has nannies worried to go out in public while working. Holly Flanders of Choice Parenting, a company that places nannies in the area, said that now going to the park or out in public is a challenge for nannies. 'How are you supposed to interact with children if you're being judged constantly?' she told Air Mail. One mother, Christina Allen, said the MUES has created a fearful and untrusting environment in the nannying world. 'I hardly ever have the chill and playful experience at our local playgrounds,' Allen said. 'There's usually some sort of drama, and I feel as though everyone is judging everything you say and do. I think this is down to our area. I'm going to put it out there that maybe the playground politics is an UES thing, in fear of being featured on the Facebook page.' Allen said she could imagine a scenario where her child became involved in a situation resulting in Allen's photo being plastered on the group's page asking, 'Whose nanny is this?' One user posted a photo of one child's caregiver walking down the street with a harrowing recount of what she saw. 'Gosh I never thought I would be one of those mom's,' she wrote. '...especially as a woman of color myself but is this your nanny?' The post read that the nanny was rough with the child, 'way more than I as a mom would find acceptable.' 'Your child was crying but not throwing a tantrum, she needed love and support not rough handling and sternness,' the post said. 'It was not a nice scene to watch.' Other posts showed pictures of nannies sat on their phones with strollers or children beside them, or the back profile of a caregiver posted alongside an ominous message to their parent. 'Trying to find this child's parents to let them know of a situation that occurred today,' one warning said, followed by an explanation of the child running into the street before almost getting hit by a car. Another said: 'If this is your caretaker and your child is very blonde... I'd want someone to share with me if my nanny was treating my child the way I witnessed this woman treat the boy in her stroller.' While the posts can highlight dangerous behavior from caregivers, for the nannies who wind up accused of such incidents in a misunderstood situation there is typically little room to defend themselves. Flanders said the 'vast majority' of them who end up on Facebook's 'wall of shame' end up losing their jobs. 'It's not like there's an HR department. If you're a mom and you're having to wonder, "Is this nanny being kind to my child? Are they hurting them?," it's really hard to sit at work all day with that on your conscience,' she said. 'There are definitely some nannies out there who are benignly neglectful, lazy and on their phone too much. But the sort of scary stuff you see on Lifetime is not all that common.'
CNN
4 days ago
- Business
- CNN
Many US families depend on immigrant nannies. Trump's policies could upend that
Catalina, a 23-year-old US citizen, confidently drives to her job as a nanny and earns a fair wage. Yet her mother – an undocumented immigrant from Peru – has worked in the shadows for 30 years. 'Even though we have the same job, do the same thing, and work the same hours, the pay is very different,' Catalina tells CNN. 'I've done very well because I was born here, and the pay is very good when you speak Spanish.' CNN has changed her name to protect her identity and her mother's safety. During Barack Obama's time in the White House, Catalina's mother considered returning to Peru, according to her daughter. The Obama administration focused on curbing interior deportations (as opposed to deportations at the border) and, especially in its later years, on so-called 'quick returns' of recent border arrivals who were perceived to have fewer ties in the US. 'A lot of people told her nothing would happen, and indeed, nothing did,' Catalina says, explaining her mother ultimately decided to stay. However, the harsh immigration policies of Donald Trump's administration paint a bleaker picture for both. The 23-year-old fears her mother could be detained when she drops off the children of a family she cares for every afternoon to support her own family. 'She's a single mom. I'm the oldest daughter, so if something happens to her, I'd have to take care of my siblings,' Catalina says. 'She had to sign a paper leaving everything to me, just in case: what to do with my siblings, her things, her money. It's awful to think about, but she feels prepared.' Catalina's mother has raised her children alone and dedicated part of her life to childcare, a sector facing a deep staffing crisis—one that has worsened in recent months, as experts say immigrants are essential to sustaining it. 'The childcare sector broadly has long been facing a crisis and a shortage of workers. And immigrant workers are critical to keeping that system running. Both the formal sector and the informal sector,' Wendy Cervantes, director of Immigration and Immigrant Families at the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP), tells CNN. According to a report from the National Women's Law Center, 20% of early educators in the US – an umbrella term encompassing preschool teachers, home-based childcare providers, teachers aids and program directors – are immigrants. Women make up 'a significant percentage' of the workforce in this sector nationwide. 'Care work is the work that makes all other work possible and enables all families to thrive,' the report says. However, caregivers face low wages, lack of benefits, vulnerability to exploitation, and job insecurity. Undocumented workers, for their part, also lack basic labor rights and protections. Although she has lived in the US for years, Catalina's mother does not have access to work benefits like health insurance or social security. 'She gets paid in cash or by check, but no benefits. Nothing,' Catalina says of her mother's working conditions. Every year, undocumented immigrants living in the US pay billions of dollars in taxes even though they know they won't be able to enjoy the benefits unless their status is regularized. Additionally, the constant threat of being reported limits her even when accepting jobs. 'If a job comes from an American family, I don't think she'd take it. She's afraid that if something happens, someone will call the authorities.' According to Cervantes, immigrant childcare workers 'are often an invisible workforce.' Despite their crucial role in the early education of an increasingly diverse child population, they are not sufficiently recognized. 'One thing that often goes unrecognized is that these workers are among the few who are bilingual and culturally competent, particularly in the formal sector, which is highly sought after. Many families want their children in bilingual education programs, and these workers are essential for serving an increasingly diverse child population,' adds the CLASP director. Beyond the numbers, the tightening of immigration policies under Trump's administration has directly impacted the reality of thousands of families like Catalina's. A few weeks after Trump took office, his administration announced that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents could now make arrests near places like schools, churches, and hospitals, ending a longstanding policy that prevented them from operating in so-called 'sensitive locations.' 'And now, in some states where there is greater cooperation with local police, a nanny simply driving to work could be arrested, deported, and separated from her family,' Cervantes notes. Catalina's mother experiences that anxiety firsthand every day when she gets in the car to pick up the children she cares for in the afternoons. 'When she arrives, there are always police officers managing traffic. Sometimes she hides in the car, doesn't get out. She waits for the kids to get in the car. It's awful,' Catalina says. 'If I meet her at the school, she feels a little better. But if she's alone, she doesn't.' Without protective policies in place, like the 'sensitive locations' policy, it is much harder for nannies to serve families and feel safe continuing their work, Cervantes warns. 'The way immigration enforcement measures are being applied across the country is happening with very little oversight and accountability. More people are becoming vulnerable to deportation because there is no longer prosecutorial discretion, for example, for parents or people with humanitarian reasons not to be deported. There's no way to prioritize who should or shouldn't be deported. Everyone is a priority. Therefore, everyone without status is in danger,' adds the CLASP director. Catalina is currently studying, hoping to build her mother a house in Peru in case she decides to return one day. 'Here my mom has no one, no family, no sisters, no mother. Nothing. She's alone,' she says, but insists she doesn't want to leave her alone either. 'She worries more because she says, 'My daughter will be left alone.'' Meanwhile, the Trump administration's growing push to advance its mass deportation plan could further harm the US childcare system. 'If we lose immigrant workers, especially those who care for our children, as a country we will suffer. If deportations continue at the current pace, if this budget proposal passes Congress—which would allow the administration to further increase its enforcement measures—and if we keep seeing more people lose their immigration status, then this will have a very negative impact on the workforce overall, making it harder for all working mothers and fathers to find childcare and go to work,' Cervantes says. This is the invisible role of Catalina's mother: she is the one who allows others to work while their children are cared for. Without her and many like her, the United States would be a very different country.
CNN
4 days ago
- Business
- CNN
Many US families depend on immigrant nannies. Trump's policies could upend that
Catalina, a 23-year-old US citizen, confidently drives to her job as a nanny and earns a fair wage. Yet her mother – an undocumented immigrant from Peru – has worked in the shadows for 30 years. 'Even though we have the same job, do the same thing, and work the same hours, the pay is very different,' Catalina tells CNN. 'I've done very well because I was born here, and the pay is very good when you speak Spanish.' CNN has changed her name to protect her identity and her mother's safety. During Barack Obama's time in the White House, Catalina's mother considered returning to Peru, according to her daughter. The Obama administration focused on curbing interior deportations (as opposed to deportations at the border) and, especially in its later years, on so-called 'quick returns' of recent border arrivals who were perceived to have fewer ties in the US. 'A lot of people told her nothing would happen, and indeed, nothing did,' Catalina says, explaining her mother ultimately decided to stay. However, the harsh immigration policies of Donald Trump's administration paint a bleaker picture for both. The 23-year-old fears her mother could be detained when she drops off the children of a family she cares for every afternoon to support her own family. 'She's a single mom. I'm the oldest daughter, so if something happens to her, I'd have to take care of my siblings,' Catalina says. 'She had to sign a paper leaving everything to me, just in case: what to do with my siblings, her things, her money. It's awful to think about, but she feels prepared.' Catalina's mother has raised her children alone and dedicated part of her life to childcare, a sector facing a deep staffing crisis—one that has worsened in recent months, as experts say immigrants are essential to sustaining it. 'The childcare sector broadly has long been facing a crisis and a shortage of workers. And immigrant workers are critical to keeping that system running. Both the formal sector and the informal sector,' Wendy Cervantes, director of Immigration and Immigrant Families at the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP), tells CNN. According to a report from the National Women's Law Center, 20% of early educators in the US – an umbrella term encompassing preschool teachers, home-based childcare providers, teachers aids and program directors – are immigrants. Women make up 'a significant percentage' of the workforce in this sector nationwide. 'Care work is the work that makes all other work possible and enables all families to thrive,' the report says. However, caregivers face low wages, lack of benefits, vulnerability to exploitation, and job insecurity. Undocumented workers, for their part, also lack basic labor rights and protections. Although she has lived in the US for years, Catalina's mother does not have access to work benefits like health insurance or social security. 'She gets paid in cash or by check, but no benefits. Nothing,' Catalina says of her mother's working conditions. Every year, undocumented immigrants living in the US pay billions of dollars in taxes even though they know they won't be able to enjoy the benefits unless their status is regularized. Additionally, the constant threat of being reported limits her even when accepting jobs. 'If a job comes from an American family, I don't think she'd take it. She's afraid that if something happens, someone will call the authorities.' According to Cervantes, immigrant childcare workers 'are often an invisible workforce.' Despite their crucial role in the early education of an increasingly diverse child population, they are not sufficiently recognized. 'One thing that often goes unrecognized is that these workers are among the few who are bilingual and culturally competent, particularly in the formal sector, which is highly sought after. Many families want their children in bilingual education programs, and these workers are essential for serving an increasingly diverse child population,' adds the CLASP director. Beyond the numbers, the tightening of immigration policies under Trump's administration has directly impacted the reality of thousands of families like Catalina's. A few weeks after Trump took office, his administration announced that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents could now make arrests near places like schools, churches, and hospitals, ending a longstanding policy that prevented them from operating in so-called 'sensitive locations.' 'And now, in some states where there is greater cooperation with local police, a nanny simply driving to work could be arrested, deported, and separated from her family,' Cervantes notes. Catalina's mother experiences that anxiety firsthand every day when she gets in the car to pick up the children she cares for in the afternoons. 'When she arrives, there are always police officers managing traffic. Sometimes she hides in the car, doesn't get out. She waits for the kids to get in the car. It's awful,' Catalina says. 'If I meet her at the school, she feels a little better. But if she's alone, she doesn't.' Without protective policies in place, like the 'sensitive locations' policy, it is much harder for nannies to serve families and feel safe continuing their work, Cervantes warns. 'The way immigration enforcement measures are being applied across the country is happening with very little oversight and accountability. More people are becoming vulnerable to deportation because there is no longer prosecutorial discretion, for example, for parents or people with humanitarian reasons not to be deported. There's no way to prioritize who should or shouldn't be deported. Everyone is a priority. Therefore, everyone without status is in danger,' adds the CLASP director. Catalina is currently studying, hoping to build her mother a house in Peru in case she decides to return one day. 'Here my mom has no one, no family, no sisters, no mother. Nothing. She's alone,' she says, but insists she doesn't want to leave her alone either. 'She worries more because she says, 'My daughter will be left alone.'' Meanwhile, the Trump administration's growing push to advance its mass deportation plan could further harm the US childcare system. 'If we lose immigrant workers, especially those who care for our children, as a country we will suffer. If deportations continue at the current pace, if this budget proposal passes Congress—which would allow the administration to further increase its enforcement measures—and if we keep seeing more people lose their immigration status, then this will have a very negative impact on the workforce overall, making it harder for all working mothers and fathers to find childcare and go to work,' Cervantes says. This is the invisible role of Catalina's mother: she is the one who allows others to work while their children are cared for. Without her and many like her, the United States would be a very different country.
Daily Mail
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE I worked as a nanny for Hollywood's elite... but beneath the private jets lurked a cruel reality
A man who worked as a nanny to Hollywood's rich and famous has lifted the lid on some of the glamorous perks that came with the gig... as well as the harrowing downsides. Hamp Simmons babysat children in Beverly Hills and Bel Air from 1977 until 1982.
