Mother facing jail for deadly neglect ‘atrocity’

A severely malnourished six-year-old girl suffered an “atrocity” of neglect before her lice-ridden body, weighing just 18kg, was taken to hospital, the court tasked with sentencing her mother heard.

Crystal Leanne Hanley, 49, appeared in the Supreme Court of South Australia on Tuesday after pleading guilty to criminal negligence causing death over the death of her six-year-old daughter Charlie Nowland in July 2022.

The mother-of-five also pleaded guilty to separate charges of criminal neglect in relation to two other children.

Hanley, from Munno Para, north of Adelaide, shook and cried silently in the dock as victim statements from her two children and two first responders were read to the court.

Charlie, who had never been taken to a doctor in his life or attended school or child care, was taken to Lyell McEwin Hospital on July 15, 2022, after he stopped breathing.

Prosecutor Kos Lesses said Charlie died of heart failure due to anemia and severe iron deficiency.

“Simply put, he was severely malnourished to the point that his body collapsed and his heart failed,” he told Judge Sandi McDonald.

He said Hanley’s house was in a deplorable and disgusting condition.

“To just say it’s in terrible shape is to understate how bad it is,” he said.

Hanley had repeatedly lied and confused people about Charlie getting medical attention, and in a phone call he told his former partner: “I’m going to jail, I failed him, I failed everyone.”

Chris Kummerow, for Hanley, said he became a heavy user of methamphetamine and suffered from untreated post-traumatic stress disorder after he was attacked and repeatedly stabbed by his former partner John Nowland in January 2021.

“Everyone in the courtroom is asking how a mother could treat her child this way,” he said.

“Ms. Hanley loves her children and always has, and she is emotionally, mentally and cognitively incapable of providing them with the care they need.”

He rejected the prosecution’s claim that Hanley showed “callous indifference” to his daughter.

This led Judge McDonald to note that witnesses said Charlie couldn’t walk and his legs were swollen, and “your client joked ‘he’s got ankles… he’s a dickhead and he can’t walk’.”

Sergeant Haydn Evans said he could still see Charlie’s lifeless body in the hospital bed.

“What happened to Charlie is an atrocity that should never have been allowed to happen,” he said.

“As a society, we must do more to ensure horrors like this never happen again; no child should have to endure the pain that Charlie or his surviving siblings endured.”

The officer, who suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, flashbacks, nightmares and hypervigilance, said her death had “profoundly affected every aspect of my life”.

Former nurse Angela Dente, who left the profession as a direct result of what she saw that night, said she attempted CPR.

“I kept looking at her sweet little face. Her eyes were open but empty,” he said.

Charlie had “a head full of lice eggs.”

“When I looked closely, I could see that the quite large ones were still looking for food by going through the crusty bald patches,” Ms Dente said.

“The hardest part was putting his little body in the plastic bag for the morgue, gently lifting him up, being careful not to hurt his head… We felt the need to protect him.”

Judge McDonald has not yet decided whether further testimony is required before sentencing.

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