WARNING: Distressing content The death of an 11-week-old boy in a squalid home could have been prevented if the Department for Child Protection had acted on multiple reports he and his siblings were at risk, the SA coroner has found. Delivering findings on the 2018 death of the infant known under the pseudonym “Caleb Evans”, State Coroner David Whittle said the cause of his death was “unascertained, in an unsafe sleeping environment on a background of respiratory tract infection”.
“Had baby Caleb been removed, he would have been sleeping in a clean, well set-up cot, rather than in an unsafe sleeping environment and this may have prevented his death.” Police found faeces on the floors, rotten food in the cockroach-infested pantry, baby bottles containing putrid liquid and the smell of urine, faeces and rotting food permeated the house. The first notification involving Caleb was on March 14, 2018. The notifier said the family was living in squalor.