Kerrie Struhs was cleared of posing an immediate risk to others just three weeks before her eight-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, died. The assessment was made by an officer who lacked access to the mother’s criminal history, a Brisbane inquest heard.
The failure highlights a critical gap in Queensland’s parole system. Elizabeth died of diabetic ketoacidosis after her father, Jason Struhs, withheld her insulin, a decision rooted in the family’s religious beliefs.
Missing Files
On December 16, 2021, Kerrie was released from jail on parole. She had previously served five months for child neglect after refusing to treat Elizabeth’s type 1 diabetes in 2019. The intake officer admitted she couldn’t access the QP9 file, which contains police and prosecutor details, due to an administrative error. Without that context, she marked the risk as “no.” “She said she would do the same again,” the officer noted, referencing Kerrie’s belief that God would heal the child. That statement should have raised red flags, but it didn’t stop the release.
Systemic Failures
A senior correctional officer testified that Kerrie should have been flagged for the “serious offenders unit” due to her history of causing serious child harm. Instead, she received standard supervision. A second officer met her on December 23, just two days before Christmas, for only 10 to 15 minutes. Both officers were filling in for colleagues. Elizabeth died on January 7, 2022, after Jason stopped providing insulin on January 3. Kerrie, Jason, and 12 other sect members were convicted of manslaughter last year. The inquest continues, but the question remains: how many more children are at risk when data fails to follow the person?
Source: Guardian World
This article was compiled by the IndiaBBCNews editorial system from verified international news sources. Facts have been independently reviewed. Original reporting: Guardian World.
