Jodie Munro O'Brien, Margaret Wenham and Janelle Miles
January 01, 2008 03:00pm
Article from: Courier Mail
A MAN was charged with murder and rape last night after earlier fleeing a Bribie Island holiday home where his 10-year-old daughter lay dead.
The 39-year-old man from Bardon was apprehended last night at Mt Glorious, west of Brisbane. He was with his seven-year-old son.
The man had apparently left his two other children, a teenage girl and a nine-year-old boy, in the holiday home with their dead sister.
The Courier-Mail understands that the family was known to the Department of Child Safety, having been the subject of "a small number" of low-level, "child concern" reports in the past three years. It is believed the children had been in the custody of their father for several years.
The girl's body was found at a residence in Webster St, Bongaree, on Bribie Island, across the road from a church.
The family had rented the holiday home last Saturday for one week.
Police were last night questioning the father after his Bardon home was cordoned off.
They also cordoned off the Bribie Island Uniting Church, where a blue plastic bag was seized.
The handle of what appeared to be a hammer was seen protruding from the top of the bag.
Neighbours described the area as quiet and the type of place where some people still did not lock doors.
Naturopath Janine Williams – who lives two doors away from where the girl's body was found – celebrated New Year on her balcony, oblivious to what had happened.
"I feel quite sick, actually, that a little girl died and we didn't even know," she said.
"We didn't hear anything. It's a very quiet neighborhood. We're just creeped out by it all. Sleepy little Bribie Island. It's shocking, the first day of the year. It's gruesome."
Another neighbour, Michelle King, said she was frightened a child could be killed in her neighbourhood. "I am really scared now because I'm a single mother and walk around here all the time," she said.
One neighbour said he saw a man standing outside the house at 12.45am yesterday. Police said they were not sure when the girl died.
A spokesperson for the Department of Child Safety said the agency was "working closely with police who are investigating this incident to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the (dead) child's siblings".
It is understood that three children have been taken into care.
The family had been the subject of child concern reports. Such reports are usually dealt with by way of advice or referral to support services or other appropriate agencies.
It is not known yet whether the low-level contact history will trigger the department's child-death review process, which involves an internal case-management review, followed by an external review by a committee headed by the Commissioner for Children and Young People, Elizabeth Fraser."