Grisly details emerge after teens in nappies found locked up
A man has revealed he wished he had said something following the discovery of two teenage boys living in “squalid” conditions.
Two teenage boys with special needs were found in a home in the Brisbane suburb of Stafford, after emergency services were called to a residence.
Shortly after 7am on Wednesday, police were called to the Midson Street address after reports the body of a 49-year-old man had been located.
Emergency services told Nine News the 17 and 19-year-old boys were found in “squalid” conditions.
Police said the 49-year-old’s death was not being treated as suspicious and he is reportedly the father of the two boys.
People who knew the man who died and the two boys have now spoken out as news outlets have obtained images and videos which provide additional context to how the teenage boys were living.
One man who spoke to the ABC explained he had been to the property a number of times a few years ago and he knew the 49-year-old man through the local bowling club.
"The stench was unbearable … I wish I'd said something," he told the ABC, asking not to be named.
"The boys were always locked in the room, the door was kicked in and there were chickens in the house."
The Courier-Mail obtained photos of the teenage boys, wearing only nappies, in a room covered in their own faeces.
When a concerned neighbour reportedly confronted the father about the boy’s living conditions, he allegedly accused her of trying to break apart his family.
However, the ABC also spoke with neighbours who said the man’s health was deteriorating and he did have someone come to the home to look after the boys.
Concerned neighbours have documented the living conditions the children were subjected to.
One mother said when she observed the boys in the yard with only a nappy on she called the Department of Child Safety earlier this year and was told nothing could be done.
“[The department] basically said because they technically have shade, and they technically are in an enclosed yard, there's nothing that they can do, which doesn't sit well with me being a mum,” she told the ABC.
However, the department could not comment on whether this case was investigated, citing the Child Protection Act.
“The strict provisions of this Act make it illegal to disclose publicly whether an individual or family is known or not known to the department,” a spokesperson from the department told the ABC.
After the boys were discovered they were treated by paramedics at the scene and were taken to hospital, Nine News reported.
The circumstances surrounding the care of the two boys with special needs is now being looked into by detectives attached to the Boondall Child Protection Unit and other government agencies.
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