A FIVE-year-old girl who contracted a sexually transmitted infection was allowed to return to the family home after a judge ruled that he could not be certain her father had abused her.

But the Department of Community Services yesterday argued that Judge Jonathan Williams did not need to be certain whether the abuse occurred and that he had erred in law by allowing the girl, now 7, to continue living with her parents.

In the District Court, both parents successfully appealed against the DOCS finding, although an undertaking was made that the girl would not live with her father again until the end of all proceedings, the court heard.