Stafford death: Naked, underweight teenagers found locked in room of house where dead body of man found
Dressed in filthy nappies with only a mattress on the floor and covered in faeces, the extent of the horror two autistic brothers faced while locked in a room in their Brisbane home has been revealed. Child Safety had previously closed an investigation into their welfare. WARNING CONFRONTING
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Dressed in filthy nappies with only a mattress on the floor and covered in their own faeces, the extent of the horror two autistic brothers faced while locked in a room in their Brisbane home has been revealed.
Confronting photos taken of the boys, now aged 17 and 19, have been released after they were discovered yesterday malnourished and locked in a room of their Stafford home when paramedics were called to reports of the sudden death of a 49-year-old man.
The two highly autistic children were known to the Department of Child Safety and were visited before the case was closed
The man was found dead following a heart attack at the property – it is not being treated as suspicious – but while police were on scene, it is believed noises were heard from a locked room where they then found the pair naked, malnourished and in squalid conditions.
Photos released by concerned neighbours today show the boys dressed in nothing but nappies, trapped in a filthy room covered in their own faeces with only a mattress on the ground.
Another photo shows the boys - again naked except for in nappies - in the backyard next to a broken beer bottle.
Heartbroken neighbours say they repeatedly tried to raise concerns about their welfare to authorities but it fell on deaf ears.
Speaking to The Courier-Mail, a next door neighbour revealed the toxicity of the environment the boys were living in, with their now deceased father being described as a “manipulator.”
“When you couldn’t hear the boys yelling out the window, you could hear (the father) going off at (one of the boys), and (the boy) would never say a word back.” the neighbour said.
The neighbour, who was very familiar with the family, said the father would frequently ask others in the neighbourhood to look after the kids while some drove him to the shops or other destinations.
“They seemed more of a burden to him than anything else,” the neighbour said
“I remember looking after them one time, and (one of the boys) would just sit next to me in the lounge and just watch chicken videos on YouTube.
“You wouldn’t get a sound out of him when he wasn’t forced to be there.”
When the neighbour approached the father about her concerns regarding the poor living conditions, she said the father would abuse her for trying to break apart their family.
It is also understood the boys were known to Department of Child Safety officers, but they had closed the case after investigating and finding no issues.
“He would put his facade up, he’d normally be this really friendly guy who would ask you to do things for him and drive you places, but if you said anything he didn’t like, he’d turn on you,” the neighbour said.
It is understood the neighbour had filed a concern with Child Protection services after one of the boys graduated school, which left him at the home 24/7 with the father.
“When we tried to send footage of the conditions they were in, the Department told me the files were too large to send so nothing was able to be done,” the neighbour said.
It’s also understood a welfare check and department of housing checks were carried out on the property, but both times resulted in little being done.
“The housing inspector came over once and he didn’t even go in the house, he just walked around the outside and backyard, he didn’t even see the condition inside the house,” the neighbour said.
Questions have been raised as to why the two young children were living in the house and were not getting greater care.
The children are non-verbal and are not toilet trained.
A support person going to the house contacted police who found the man and the two teens locked in a room.
The Courier-Mail has been told a support person going to the house on almost a daily basis said the man was feeding and bathing the children and doing the most he could for children with complex needs.
The children required high care and if he needed to sleep he would lock them in the room for their own safety.
It’s understood the man’s health deteriorated in the last month.
The Courier-Mail has been told DOCS had previously been involved with the family but closed their case.
It’s unclear what prompted DOCS involvement in the first place.
They had conducted visits but had apparently not found threats to the children before closing the case last year.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Child Safety, Youth and Women declined to comment at all on the case.
“The Department of Child Safety, Youth and Women is guided by the Child Protection Act which has as its paramount principle the protection of children — which includes their identity,” she said.
“The strict provisions of this Act make it illegal to disclose publicly whether an individual or family is known or not known to the department.”
Another neighbour said the boys were heard screaming from inside the house “nearly all the time” and said reports to authorities had fallen on deaf ears.
Neighbours have described their living conditions as “gravely distressing" and that the situation was like something you’d see in a horror movie.
“You’d hear them screaming nearly all the time because he’d lock them in that room” a neighbour told The Courier-Mail.
“They wouldn’t be wearing clothes, only just loaded diapers (nappies) if they were lucky.
“You’d sometimes look over and see them playing with their own faeces and pushing it through the mozzie screens.”
The neighbour, who has been living in the Stafford street for more than three years, talked about how people tried to get help for the kids, but their cries were falling on deaf government ears.
“I tried to reach out to Police and the Department of Child safety, but nothing was ever done,” the neighbour said.
A man, who did not wish to be named, told the ABC he knew the dead man and said the house stank, there were chickens in the kitchen and the two boys were “always locked in their room”.
“The boys were always locked in the room, the door was kicked in and there were chickens in the house.”
The two boys, both with autism, are now being cared for at the Prince Charles Hospital, with no update on their condition being given this morning.
Another neighbour quoted Minister for Child Safety, Di Farmer yesterday, who called the situation “horrific”.
“If you think the situation was horrific, where was the department to give support and to help them.” she said
Queensland’s Minister for Child Safety Di Farmer on Wednesday described the incident as “horrific”.
“Hearing about events like this in our community is never easy,” Ms Farmer said.
“My thoughts are with these two young men who are getting the support and care they need.”
Queensland Police declined to comment on the circumstances surrounding the discovery of the young men.
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