Overview
- Crystal Leanne Hanley, 49, appeared in the South Australia Supreme Court after pleading guilty to criminal neglect of three children in 2022, with manslaughter and additional neglect counts withdrawn.
- Prosecutors said six-year-old Charlie died on July 15, 2022 from cardiac failure linked to anaemia and severe iron deficiency after prolonged malnutrition, and alleged Hanley repeatedly misled others about seeking care.
- Evidence outlined that Charlie weighed about 18 kilograms, had lost the ability to walk, was infested with lice, and lived in squalor at the Munno Para home when she was found unresponsive.
- An emergency nurse and a police sergeant described lasting trauma from the case, with the nurse leaving the profession and the officer calling the neglect an "atrocity."
- The defense argued Hanley’s heavy methamphetamine use and untreated PTSD impaired her capacity to parent, while Justice Sandi McDonald adjourned sentencing for further submissions as Hanley remains in custody.