‘Where’s the justice? Our little girl almost died and they walk free’

The family of a three-year-old Queensland girl who was forgotten for six hours on a daycare bus is furious after learning the childcare workers responsible for the tragedy will escape jail time.

The temperature inside the bus on May 4, 2022 reached 40 degrees, and its sole occupant, a forgotten three-year-old girl, suffered seizures and “an altered level of consciousness” from the extreme heat.

The Gracemere, Queensland girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was meant to be dropped off at daycare, but instead she was trapped on the bus, forgotten by her childcare centre director and an educator, who were both riding the bus with the children at the time.

From 9am to 3pm, she sat on the bus suffering severe heat strike.

“It caused an altered level of consciousness and also seizure activity,” Judge Michael Rackemann said in court on Wednesday.  

Childcare workers, 32-year-old Bianca Maree Reynolds and 31-year-old Tara Alyce Steers, were charged with grievous bodily harm and pleaded guilty in the Queensland District Court in Rockhampton.

Reynolds was sentenced to three years in jail, and Steers was given a two-year and eight-month sentence, both of which were suspended for five years.

That means neither woman will go to jail. They were in tears on Wednesday as they learned their fate.

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The three-year-old girl was left for six hours on a bus outside daycare in the sweltering heat. Photo: supplied

Family furious after little girl left on daycare bus for six hours

The bus was parked outside Le Smileys Early Learning Centre while the little girl’s peers played inside.

She was discovered unconscious on the bus in the late afternoon and was hospitalised in critical condition.

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The little girl’s family was devastated to hear the news that the educators would walk free.

In a statement, her grandmother, Pamela Parker, slammed the decision.

“Where’s the justice?” she said.

“We have to live with this every day we look at her.

“We’re lucky she’s here.”

Her grandmother, Pamela Parker, is furious to hear that the educators will walk free. Photo: 9 News

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Just after the incident in May 2022, Pamela gave an update to media, saying the little girl was “good”.

“I’m thankful my granddaughter has pulled through but what this must be doing to her, I can’t even imagine,” she told 9 News.

“How did this happen? Why? Why did this happen? Lost, hurt angry, scared, we just need more answers. We need to be told why,” she said.

Originally published as ‘Where’s the justice? Our little girl almost died and they walk free’