20 key moments in lead up to Child Protection Systems Royal Commission
HOW has it come to this? As Commissioner Margaret Nyland’s report into child protection is released, we look at what triggered the Royal Commission.
- FULL WRAP: What the Royal Commissioner recommends
- UNMASKING A MONSTER: How SA Police caught Shannon McCoole
- INSIDE STORY: How Shannon McCoole turned into a monster
- VICTIMS: What they say about predator Shannon McCoole
AS Commissioner Margaret Nyland’s report into child protection is set to be released, we look back on the lead up to the Royal Commission.
JULY 22, 2014
Authorities reveal Families SA carer Shannon McCoole had been arrested and charged with abusing children in his care at a state-run home.
JULY 25, 2014
The Advertiser reveals McCoole was investigated a year prior to his arrest for alleged inappropriate behaviour involving a female toddler in his care but was cleared to work again with children.
JULY 26, 2014
The Advertiser reveals that trained police child-abuse investigators did not interview an alleged victim of McCoole, on the advice of a Families SA supervisor. Anomalies in his psychometric testing when he was first hired were also revealed by The Advertiser.
JULY 28, 2014
The then department deputy chief executive in charge of Families SA, David Waterford, resigns after admitting he gave inaccurate and misleading information to the then Child Development Minister Jennifer Rankine. After questions from The Advertiser he re-read McCoole’s file and realised he had overlooked the material.
AUGUST 13, 2014
The Advertiser reveals the mother of one of McCoole’s seven victims reported the abuse of her daughter to Families SA in mid-2012 — a year before his co-workers raised concerns about his behaviour and two years before his arrest by police.
AUGUST 14, 2014
The Advertiser reveals a log book, which detailed incidents in the care house McCoole worked at while abusing children, had gone “missing’’. The log book contained evidence in the scandal relating to co-worker’s complaints about McCoole’s behaviour with the children.
APRIL 9, 2015
Coroner Mark Johns delivers his findings and recommendations from an inquest into the death of four-year-old Chloe Valentine, who died in 2012 in the care of her neglectful mother and her then partner. Chloe had been the subject of more than 20 reports to Families SA.
MAY 23, 2015
The families of McCoole’s victims confront the monster who sexually abused children he was entrusted to protect, reading victim impact statements in court.
AUGUST 7, 2015
McCoole is sentenced to a minimum of 28 years behind bars for the vile sexual abuse of seven young children. District Court Judge Paul Rice handed down a 35 year sentence with a non-parole period of 28 years.
AUGUST 8, 2015
The Advertiser reveals insights into the police investigation that brought down McCoole’s global online paedophile ring.
SEPTEMBER 1, 2015
The Advertiser reveals that more than 86,000 calls to the overstretched Families SA abuse hotline went unanswered over four years as staff struggled to keep up with growing numbers of notifications.
OCTOBER 2015
Commissioner Margaret Nyland begins work on her inquiry into the state’s child protection system.
OCTOBER 21, 2015
The Advertiser reveals that half of calls to the Families SA abuse hotline clog the system with unnecessary or minor concerns, such as schoolchildren not wearing hats or fighting with siblings in shops.
NOVEMBER 2, 2015
The Advertiser reveals that Families SA workers were told to leave callers to the agency’s abuse hotline on hold for at least an hour so they could focus on clearing a backlog of written reports of potential abuse or neglect.
APRIL 14, 2016
MPs finally pass new child protection laws acting on recommendations from the Chloe Valentine coronial inquest — a year after the findings were handed down.
JUNE 21, 2016
Commissioner Nyland releases interim recommendations to separate Families SA from the Education and Child Development Department and to hire a new chief executive with qualifications in the field. Premier Jay Weatherill, who orchestrated the merging of Families SA with the larger department admits it “did not work” and agrees to the recommendations.
JULY 29, 2016
The Advertiser reveals that Families SA will begin publishing monthly online updates of key data, including the number of children taken into state care, where they are living, how many reports have been made to the abuse hotline and the wait time to make a report.
AUGUST 5, 2016
Commissioner Nyland delivers her final report and recommendations to Governor Hieu van Le.
AUGUST 8, 2016
The State Government publicly releases the Nyland report.