Mother jailed for criminal neglect of three children, including 6yo Charlie, who died
Crystal Leanne Hanley outside the Adelaide Magistrates Court after she was charged over the death of her six-year-old daughter. (ABC News: Ethan Rix)
In short:
Crystal Leanne Hanley has been jailed for 17 years for the criminal neglect of her three children, including six-year-old Charlie who died in July 2022.
In sentencing, the Supreme Court Justice said the woman failed to provide adequate food and failed to get medical treatment for Charlie when the child fell ill.
What's next?
Hanley will be eligible to apply for parole in mid-2037 but the court heard she would "never again likely to be trusted to have children" in her care.
A mother who admitted criminally neglecting three of her children, including a daughter who died when she was six years old, has been jailed for 17 years.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this article contains the first name and image of a person who has died, as well as content some may find distressing.
Crystal Leanne Hanley, 50, previously pleaded guilty to the criminal neglect of three of her children, including her youngest daughter, Charlie, who died when her body shut down from severe malnourishment in July 2022.
Six-year-old Charlie was found unresponsive in her Munno Para home in July 2022. (Facebook)
She was previously facing another two counts of criminal neglect and one count of manslaughter, but those charges were dropped on account of her guilty pleas.
In sentencing, Supreme Court Justice Sandi McDonald told Hanley she had "failed as a mother at the most fundamental level" and that there were "no words that can adequately reflect the tragedy of this case".
"The negligence that underpins this offence was your failure to provide adequate nutritious food and your failure to seek medical treatment when Charlie obviously became unwell," Justice McDonald said.
She said that in the weeks leading up to Charlie's death, Hanley had shown a "callous disregard" for her daughter's wellbeing. Charlie's birth was never registered and she never had a Medicare number.
Justice McDonald said Charlie had never seen a doctor or dentist, had never had her growth or development checked, was not immunised and had never been enrolled at school.
"To have a child is not an entitlement but a privilege," she told Hanley, who is a mother of seven.
"You will have to live for the rest of your life with the knowledge of the devastation that you have caused to all of your children."
Justice McDonald took regular breaks throughout the sentencing, explaining she wanted Hanley to understand the entirety of the sentence.
The judge said Crystal Hanley had failed as a mother. (ABC News)
Justice McDonald said Hanley had experienced an act of "extreme domestic violence" at the hands of her partner, Charlie's father John Nowland, who was jailed for a January 2021 attack on her.
She said that attack had a "profound effect" on the family and led Hanley to more regularly abuse methylamphetamine as her mental health declined.
The incident, Justice McDonald said, "further exacerbated your inability, or your disinclination to properly care for your children".
But, she said Hanley's mistreatment and failure to care properly for her children began "long before" that incident, with the family living in squalid conditions for some time prior.
Hanley declined support
In the wake of that incident, Justice McDonald said Hanley's families had rallied around her, cleaning her "cluttered" and "dirty" home and offering support, but she pushed them away.
"They were prepared to be there for you. You were not, however, prepared to accept their help,"she said.
From that point, Justice McDonald said the situation at the home deteriorated and Hanley's "ability and willingness" to provide appropriate care for her children further decreased.
Still, she said Hanley refused the many offers of support — from family, neighbours, friends and various government agency staff who noticed the decline, but which Hanley kept at "arms-length".
Photos of Crystal Hanley's "cluttered" and "dirty" home was shown in court. (Supplied: SA Supreme Court)
Justice McDonald explained Hanley had refused to sign paperwork that would allow welfare agencies to access the medical records of her children and had lied about seeking medical care for Charlie.
She said authorities — including police — and friends had attended the house months before Charlie died and found Hanley's children appearing "pale, skinny, unclean" and lice-infested, while Hanley regularly appeared to be under the influence of a substance.
'Callous disregard' for Charlie
Justice McDonald said Hanley complained about visits by the child welfare authorities in recorded prison phone calls with Nowland, who was in jail for the attack on her.
In those calls, she said Hanley complained about Charlie being "in a mood" because her legs were sore, swollen, and she was unable to walk from an iron deficiency.
But Justice McDonald told Hanley her daughter "was screaming and carrying on because she was sick and in pain", and that the child's condition should have alerted Hanley that her daughter needed urgent medical help.
She said Hanley's comments in the recorded prison calls showed "a complete lack of insight into Charlie's dire state that was unfolding directly in front of your eyes" and demonstrated a "callous disregard" for her condition.
Charlie died when her body shut down from severe malnourishment in July 2022. (Supplied)
She said Charlie's death was determined to be "cardiac failure complicated by anaemia and failure to thrive", which had been caused by malnutrition.
"Put simply, Charlie was severely malnourished to a point her body collapsed and her heart gave away,"Justice McDonald said.
She said the offending against two other children was also extremely serious and also included malnourishment and neglect.
Justice McDonald said several people had been affected by the crimes, including Hanley's children and extended family, along with the first responders, including the police and health staff who cared for her children.
She took into account Hanley's personal circumstances, including the domestic violence she endured, substance abuse, deteriorating mental health and complex post-traumatic stress disorder.
But, she said her drug abuse led Hanley to "bury her head in the sand" while the state of her children worsened.
"You did not trust the authorities and refused to accept the help they offered you, actively avoiding their efforts to your children's detriment," Justice McDonald said.
She said Hanley felt a "false sense of security" and "belief that the children must be all right" because authorities had not removed them.
Justice Sandi McDonald said Crystal Hanley had refused help from authorities.
Even after Charlie died, she said Hanley struggled to accept her role in the child's demise, though now showed remorse and had accepted she had "failed your children in the most fundamental of ways".
"You prevented others from assisting you, assistance that, without a doubt, would have saved Charlie's life,"Justice McDonald said.
She said her offending was a crime of "gross negligence" and "extremely serious offences" and said it was unlikely Hanley would ever commit similar offences because she was "never again likely to be trusted to have children" in her care.
After accounting for her guilty pleas, Justice McDonald jailed Hanley for 17 years and 20 days and set a non-parole period of 12 years and five months, backdated to when she was taken into custody last year.
Hanley will be eligible to apply for parole in mid-2037.