A nine-year-old girl was forced to live in a residence police described as an ‘animal toilet’ despite two complaints documenting the ‘sickening’ filth to a child protection agency.
Police said that during welfare checks on the youngster who was staying with her grandpa in rural South Australia, the home was partially flooded, covered with animal waste, smelled of urine, and had decaying food.
Police photos show a filthy interior with heaps of clothing and trash, an offensive toilet, and what seems to be bread decomposing into mouldy hunks in the kitchen.
The horrific circumstances were revealed during a court proceeding involving another subject, and they have raised concerns about how the little child was permitted to remain in the home despite police’ complaints.
When she was just 12 months old, the daughter was placed in her grandfather’s care and moved in with him at a public housing complex that he had been residing in since June 2013.
On January 27, 2019, police checked on the girl’s wellbeing after being informed that she was living alone at home.
Around 9.45 a.m., two cops knocked on the front door, and the youngster answered it by herself, according to the Adelaide Advertiser.
The officer said in court, “We had a talk with her and she instructed us that she was home alone and that her grandpa had left the residence to go shopping.”
“I then asked if I could visit her bedroom, and I could see the condition of the home since the front door was ajar.”
The front porch, where we were standing, wasn’t submerged in water.
As soon as we entered the dining room via that entryway, the corridor and those rooms were inundated.
Police were brought into the residence by the unnamed girl, who showed them the kitchen, which was coated with “dirt, mildew, and filth.”
The officer said that there was “a branch or a log in the corridor concealed by garments.”
Officers were shown the girl’s sleeping quarters, which were described as having “animal faeces,” “filthy hair,” and “very little linen.”
It was basically garbage, trash, and dirt, with no beds, blankets, or anything else that would indicate it was a secure place for a child to be, according to authorities.
Officers observed that the home was “extremely humid” and that everything was “damp.”
The fact that cops were in the house angered the girl’s grandpa when he got home.
The officer said that “he was more worried about us being at the address when he wasn’t there.”
We told the grandpa that she shouldn’t be left alone at the location at her age and that the living situation was, in our words, horrible.
On that day, the police filed a complaint with the Child Abuse Report Line.
On July 7, 2019, police were summoned back to the location for a second welfare check.
When the police came at the house at 1.45 am, they pounded on the windows and doors for ten minutes before the grandpa answered the door.
The cops said that he was disturbed by their presence.
One of the policemen said in court, “Yes, it was 1.40am, but his degree of hostility was something that would normally allow me to consider about use of tactical alternatives in a public context.”
We were there to make sure everyone was okay and to check on the welfare of the residents, so we were trying to be as polite as we could.
The police detained the grandpa because he was wanted on a warrant for breaking bail.
“It became evident that it was a lot more than simply a regular welfare check,” he added, referring to the inspection of the front yard and property.
“The property was in a disgraceful condition when we arrived.
“Feces were all over the place.” As soon as you come in, you are hit with a burning smell of ammonia.
Not only human waste was there; there was also household trash, which smelled like boiling pee.
“The fragrance made the whole place smell like an animal bathroom, and everything was covered in sludge.” The scent was terrible.
Officers discovered the child dozing off in the living room on filthy bed sheets and sofa cushions with a dog cuddled up at her feet.
The officer said that “(the grandpa) went up to her, grabbed her by the shoulders, and gave her a shake.”
The dogs are here, and the mutts are going to put me inside, he added.
Both the child and the grandpa were returned to the residence that night after being transported to the police station.
The girl wasn’t taken out of the residence for another 20 days.
The South Australian Child Protection Department has been approached by Daily Mail Australia for comment on the matter.
According to Fiona Ward, deputy chief executive of Child Protection, the department found the amount of cases it was handling to be “difficult.”
A spokesman stated, “About 39,000 specific youngsters were reported to the agency last year.”
“The majority of families reported to child protection had many and complicated needs, with active domestic violence, untreated mental illness, ongoing drug misuse, and unstable housing as critical underlying issues driving children’s experiences of abuse and neglect,” says the study.
Police visited the residence again in late 2019 after finding the girl other housing, and they took pictures showing it was still in a filthy condition.