An Australian woman has admitted to the severe neglect of her children that led to the death of her 6-year-old daughter, who died from cardiac arrest caused by malnutrition.
Child Found Malnourished and Infested with Lice
Crystal Leanne Hanley, 49, pleaded guilty in South Australia’s Supreme Court to the criminal neglect of three of her children. Prosecutors said her daughter, Charlie Nowland, was found unresponsive at their Munno Para home on July 15, 2022. The child weighed only 39 pounds and died of “cardiac failure associated with anemia and severe iron deficiency.”
Emergency nurse Angela Dente testified that Charlie’s head, ears, and nose were covered in lice eggs, and her hands and feet were so caked with dirt that staff had to scrape it off.
“I kept looking at her little sweet face,” Dente said in her victim impact statement.
Pattern of Neglect and Missed Warnings
Before her death, Charlie had lost the ability to walk, yet Hanley failed to seek medical care. Prosecutor Kos Lesses said Hanley displayed “callous disregard” for her daughter’s worsening condition during phone calls with the child’s father.
Hanley finally called emergency services at 1 a.m. on the day Charlie died, telling dispatchers the child had fallen off a makeshift bed and stopped breathing.
Family’s Heartbreaking Testimony
During the hearing, Hanley’s surviving children condemned her neglect. “I had to be a parent to Charlie because you weren’t,” one child said.
“You were selfish. All you cared about was drugs when you should have cared about us.”
Hanley faces sentencing at a later date.
If you suspect child abuse, contact the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child (1-800-422-4453) or visit childhelp.org. Calls are confidential and available 24/7 in over 170 languages.
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