Bradley Justin Staude waited four hours before seeking help for child who ingested GHB, court told

A father searched online for answers after a 20-month-old ingested illegal drugs but did not call for medical help until hours later, an Adelaide court has heard.

A father waited four hours to seek medical help after suspecting his 20-month-old daughter had ingested an illegal drug, a court has heard.

Bradley Justin Staude instead first Googled how the drug fantasy, also known as GHB, affected children almost immediately after the child ingested the drug about 10.30pm.

He appeared on Wednesday in the District Court, which heard an ambulance was not called for four hours – at 2.20am – when it was discovered her condition had “altered”.

Staude, 28, of Elizabeth Downs has pleaded guilty to a charge of criminal neglect over the March 2020 incident.

Bradley Justin Staude is charged with criminal neglect of a 20-month-old child who ingested the drug GHB.

Lisa Lakatos, prosecuting, told the court drug paraphernalia, including a green tub containing traces of GHB, was found in the main bedroom at the home.

“She ingests it about 10.30pm, there’s almost simultaneous Google searches, then nothing is done until (SA Ambulance Service) is called at 2.20am,” she said.

Ms Lakatos said prosecutors did not accept Staude’s version of events – that the child found the drugs in a container in the home’s shed – and that he could have used the time before an ambulance was called to “come up with a story” to tell the authorities.

She said his explanation was an “attempt to downplay moral culpability”.

Ms Lakatos said she was unable to say “exactly where” the child found the drug, or who it belonged to, but said it was unlikely anyone else would have left behind the “valuable commodity”.

She said Staude gave the item containing the drug to ambulance officers.

Justin Wickens, for Staude, said his client had not left the item in the shed and believed it was an empty bottle that had been discarded on the shed floor when he moved into the home.

“His story on that has not changed since the day of this incident,” Mr Wickens said.

Mr Wickens said any drugs found in the home were instead likely to belong to another man – who regularly stayed at the home – and was a heavy user of GHB.

The court heard Staude had admitted being a heavy user of the drug for more than a decade before the offending.

Mr Wickens said Staude did not offer the alternative explanation to mitigate the offending but as an explanation for how the child accessed the drug.

“He has pleaded guilty. He does accept that he allowed the child to enter the shed when he shouldn’t have,” he said.

“When he did discover or suspected … that she had ingested something from a bottle that didn’t have a label … he did not do what he should have done immediately.”

Staude returns to court next month.