Toowoomba: A child safety officer incorrectly assessed eight-year-old Elizabeth Struhs as safe just one day after she arrived at a hospital in a coma and nearly died due to parental neglect, a Queensland coronial inquest has been told.
During Tuesday's proceedings, a Queensland coronial inquest heard evidence from one of two child safety officers who ultimately decided to return the then six-year-old type 1 diabetic to the care of her parents at their home in Toowoomba. Elizabeth ultimately died there on January 7, 2022, while her mother Kerrie, father Jason, and other members of a small religious sect prayed for her miraculous healing or resurrection. The witnesses involved cannot be identified for legal reasons.
Investigators originally tasked the child safety officer with examining Elizabeth's home after she presented to Toowoomba hospital in a coma suffering from diabetic ketoacidosis on July 17, 2019. He later became her primary case worker. Just one day later, following her transfer to the Queensland Children’s Hospital in Brisbane, an assisting child safety officer completed an initial safety assessment and marked her as safe.
However, her colleague testified on Wednesday that Elizabeth should have been classified as unsafe because authorities lacked sufficient information regarding her circumstances at that time. Elizabeth was subsequently evaluated as a child in need of protection under the child safety act.
Following the 2019 incident, both Jason and Kerrie were convicted in 2021 of failing to provide the necessaries of life to their daughter, and Kerrie was jailed. Contemporaneous notes presented in court showed the child safety officer later spoke with a Brisbane hospital doctor who warned that Elizabeth was fortunate to survive and noted that Kerrie displayed no remorse.
According to the notes, the doctor stated that Kerrie still rejected medicine and that it would remain unsafe for Elizabeth to live with her until those views changed. Pediatric specialists in Brisbane objected to sending Elizabeth home, with one doctor testifying earlier in the week that she felt stonewalled by the safety officer after raising alarm bells.
Despite these warnings, Elizabeth returned home under an intervention parental agreement, which is a short-term, voluntary arrangement. On Wednesday, the child safety officer acknowledged that the safety plan implemented for Elizabeth could have been more robust in hindsight, though he stated he lacked a clear recollection of a meeting discussing the plan's adoption.
The officer told the court he experienced conflicting views regarding the best outcome for Elizabeth and her siblings, balancing the goal of keeping her connected with her family against out-of-home care. He noted that a major factor was Jason's repeated commitment to supplying daily insulin injections required to keep Elizabeth alive.
Evidence previously presented to the inquest revealed that Jason, initially skeptical of his wife's religious beliefs, medicalized Elizabeth for two years before converting to the group's beliefs in late 2021. He then ceased her insulin treatment, leading directly to her death. Last year, all 14 adult members of the sect, known as the Saints, along with group leader Brendan Stevens, were convicted of Elizabeth's manslaughter. The inquest remains ongoing.