The death of a baby in a “squalid” house filled with rubbish and faeces could have been avoided if authorities had intervened, a coroner has concluded.
Caleb, who was 11 weeks old, died in South Australia on November 30, 2018, while sleeping with his mother and two siblings on a folding couch.
On Friday, coroner David Whittle presented his findings to the inquest and “disagreed” with claims by the Department of Child Protection (DCP) that there was nothing they could do to save the baby known as “Caleb Evans”.
DCP was notified of the risks to the baby and his siblings 23 times, including several times before Caleb was born, Advertiser reported.
The department was last notified just 10 days before Caleb died.
The coroner’s court was previously shown videos and photographs of the horrific conditions Caleb was living in before his death.
The house was covered in trash, with clothing and other items scattered on the floor and surfaces, and a dirty kitchen and laundry room.
In the video footage a detective is heard saying: “There is a rather unpleasant smell of animal feces throughout the house.”
The death of a baby in a “squalid” house filled with rubbish and faeces could have been avoided if authorities had intervened, a South African coroner has found. The stove can be seen in the picture
The house was covered in trash, with clothing and other items strewn across the floor and surfaces, and a filthy kitchen and laundry room (pictured).
Caleb’s mother pleaded guilty to three counts of failing to provide necessary food, clothing and shelter for her three children.
Mr Whittle said one of the issues considered at the inquiry was whether Caleb’s death could have been prevented, including whether a different response by the DCP to notifications about the family could have saved him.
Pediatrician Michael Starr said that if Caleb had been put to sleep in a crib “like any other baby, with nothing in the crib” and if “the mother had not smoked” while sleeping with the child, “then this death would not have occurred.”
“These are all preventable things,” Dr. Starr told the research.
Mr. Whittle concluded that Caleb’s mother had “consistently demonstrated” over the years that she had difficulty fulfilling her responsibilities as his primary caregiver.
He said concerns about his upbringing had been periodically brought to the department’s attention.
The DCP said he “could not have prevented baby Caleb’s death, nor did the DCP cause or contribute to his death. I disagree,” Whittle said.
“Had baby Caleb been removed from that environment, he would have been sleeping in a clean, well-equipped crib, rather than in an unsafe sleeping environment, and this may have prevented his death.”
Whittle said that in the years since Caleb’s death, the DCP has made significant changes to its practice.
Pictured is the dirty refrigerator in the South Australian home where an 11-week-old baby died.
In a video tour of the house, a detective is heard saying, “There is a pretty unpleasant smell of animal feces throughout the house.”
South Africa’s Child Protection Minister Katrine Hildyard said the department would examine “the results very carefully and closely.”
“This demonstrates the need for the department to have done things better at the time of this tragic incident,” Hildyard said Friday.
‘Things had to change and we have set about making changes.
The minister added: “A few years ago, the ‘no action’ (DCP) case rate was around 55 per cent. That figure has now reduced to 18 per cent and we continue to investigate more cases.”
