6yo Adelaide girl dies in suspected house of horrors, police investigate case as criminal neglect

Police have offered grim new details on the death of a six-year-old girl in Adelaide, with five other siblings removed from the home amid a major investigation.

A six-year-old girl has died after she was taken from an Adelaide home, with police investigating her death as a potential case of criminal neglect.

The child, identified only as Charlie, was taken to Lyell McEwin Hospital on Friday morning after paramedics found her in an unresponsive state, She died soon after she was taken to hospital.

The situation has now been declared a “major crime” and a criminal investigation task force has been formed.

“The death is being investigated as a case of criminal neglect causing death,” South Australia Police Deputy Commissioner Linda Williams said on Tuesday.

This crime carries a maximum term of life imprisonment.

The death of six-year-old Charlie is being investigated as a possible case of criminal neglect. Picture: Adelaide Advertiser

According to 7News, the girl lived with her mother in a home in the northern Adelaide suburb of Munno Para and suffered from “multiple health conditions”.

Ms Williams also confirmed that five other siblings have been removed from the home and partner agencies are in the process of securing their safety.

The other children are understood to be aged eight, 10, 13, 14 and 15, with the other sibling aged 29.

Criminal neglect charges are being investigated in relation to the other siblings.

“The task force will conduct a simultaneous comprehensive and coronial investigation at the same time and that will focus on the broader circumstances of Charlie’s death,” the deputy commissioner said.

“As you would understand, the investigation is in its early stages.”

Tragically, the child died shortly after she was taken to hospital. Picture: Tait Schmaal.

It is understood that a range of different government services, including SA Police, had previously interacted with the family.

Ms Williams said investigators were working to understand the nature of these interactions.

“Different notifications or interactions can require different levels of intervention,” she told reporters.

“We have to understand what was appropriate and whether it was appropriate in the circumstances and in the fullness of time, that will be uncovered. But it’s too early to say at this stage.”

People who knew the family told the ABC that “multiple” reports had been made to the Department of Child Protection about the mother over concerns about the welfare and health of her children.

The Adelaide Advertiser also report the six-year-old may have died from “suspected malnutrition,” with authorities raising questions over the children’s diet and whether excessive amounts of “junk food” were consumed.

It is understood a nunber of government agencies had previously interacted with the family. Picture: 7News/Channel 7

A statement from police indicates they will be conducting a “simultaneous and comprehensive coronial investigation that will focus on the cause and circumstances of the child’s death”.

The inquiry is also expected to probe the living conditions of the girl’s siblings, and will examine the diet of the children and any adverse affect it may have had.

Ms Williams could not confirm Charlie’s condition when she was found by paramedics, however, she said initial post-mortem results indicated cause for police to “be concerned about the state of Charlie’s health and wellbeing at the time of her death.”

She noted that the conditions inside the Adelaide home were “poor”.

“This is extremely serious. The death of any person is tragic but the death of a young child, a six-year-old girl, obviously causes concern for everybody,” she said.

“I would say we take this very seriously and it’s obviously of grave concern.”

The death of the 6yo has been compared to the state’s infamous 2008 House of Horrors case. Picture: SA Police.

SA Deputy Premier Susan Close announced there would also be a government review into the interaction between government agencies and the family that have taken place over the last few years.

“The review will encompass the chronology of services and agencies engaged, the roles and responsibilities and interactions of the respective agencies, the effectiveness of interventions and government services and it will also identify any system improvements,” she said.

Comparisons have been made between this case and Adelaide’s infamous 2008 ‘house of horrors’ case. In one of the state’s worst ever child abuse cases, 21 children were found living with six adults from three families in a squalid home that was filled with junk and infested with maggots, flies and cockroaches.

The children were prevented from eating and suffered severe malnutrition, stunted growth and scabies.

The children were discovered after a five-year-old boy was taken to hospital suffering severe hypothermia. Medical staff discovered he was 97 per cent lighter than other children his age, the Adelaide Advertiser reports.

Three adults were jailed over their involvement in the treatment of those children.