Father charged as child found dead

A FATHER has been charged with manslaughter over the death of his three-year-old daughter after she was found in a stormwater drain.

Police said they were called to a house in the Townsville suburb of Kelso about 6.40pm on Saturday when two young children were reported missing.

At 8.20pm, a three-year-old girl was found in a stormwater drain. The child was taken to Townsville University Hospital where she was pronounced dead. A two-year-old was found safe wandering in a nearby street.

It is understood the girl’s father fell asleep and the children left the house.

Detectives from the Townsville Child Protection Unit later charged the 27-year-old with manslaughter, endangering children by exposure and driving under the influence of a drug.

At some point, he left in his vehicle, which led to the drug driving charge.

The endangering children by exposure charge is defined as any person who unlawfully abandons or exposes a child under the age of seven “where the life of such child is or is likely to be endangered, or the child’s health is or is likely to be permanently injured”, according to Queensland’s Criminal Code.

The man has been denied police bail and is due to appear in Townsville Magistrates Court on Monday.

After the tragedy, police taped off hundreds of metres of an undeveloped area at the end of a street near where the young girl was found.

One resident of the quiet street said they had been out “searching” with others for the child on Saturday night.

The tragedy follows the deaths of Jhulio Sariago, 3, and Barak Austral, 5, who went missing in August 2019, after leaving their Queensland home. Their mother, Leeanne Chrysillia Eatts, was charged with manslaughter.