Rockhampton toddler with severe headlice infection found living in squalor

Judge disgusted by case in which a child was “entirely reliant” on the mother “for support, care and love” said the mother “failed miserably in providing any of those things”.

Rockhampton toddler with severe headlice infection found in squalor house, including alcohol bottles, milk formula, dirty nappies, stained carpet and bedding. The mother was sentenced in the District Court on September 18 after pleading guilty to one count of child cruelty. (Illustration)

Photographs of the house where a toddler was discovered with a severe head lice infestation have revealed the squalor the child and her mother were living in prior to emergency services attending the home.

Judge Jeff Clarke was sentencing the mother on September 18 for one count of cruelty to child under 16 years when he described what he could see in the photographs.

“The house was in a parlous state,” he said.

“There were piles of baby milk formula and bottles of alcohol spread throughout the house.

“The little girl’s room was littered with nappies, dirty clothing and sheets that had not been washed in months.

“The mattress and pillows were a dark brown discolouration.

“The floor coated in dried milk and the smell emanated throughout the house when the ambulance were attending.”

The mother was sentenced in the Rockhampton Magistrates Court earlier in the year for not registering the child’s birth.

The child’s existence was discovered by authorities when the Queensland Ambulance Service was called to the woman’s Rockhampton home after the child suffered a broken a leg.

They also discovered the child had such a severe case of head lice, the only treatment option was to shave her head, revealing scabs indicating how long the child had been untreated for lice.

The court heard the mother had told paramedics the child had been staying with her father prior to QAS being called.

The mother, who has all of her children in the care of Child Safety including one she gave birth to after this offending, pleaded guilty to the cruelty charge on September 1 – almost two years after the five-week offending period in the second half of 2021.

Judge Clarke said when police spoke with the mother three weeks later, she contradicted what she told QAS and went on to call the paramedics liars.

He said the man she claimed to be the child’s father denied ever having the toddler on his own and doubted he was her biological father.

Judge Clarke said the mother claimed she had sought treatment for the child, nominating a particular business on a particular day and time, but CCTV proved her incorrect.

“The facts of the case are immediately confronting and quite frankly, disgusting,” he said.

Judge Clarke said this child was “entirely reliant” on the mother “for support, care and love” to which the mother “failed miserably in providing any of those things”.

He sentenced the woman to nine months prison to be served on an intensive correction order – meaning she serves her prison term in the community under stricter supervision than a probation order, including reporting at least twice a week.

A conviction was recorded.