Girl returned to killer parents despite ‘cult’ warning
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A little girl was killed by her parents after being returned home by authorities despite concerns from medical experts over her family’s extreme religious beliefs, a coroner has heard.
Eight-year-old Elizabeth Rose Struhs died on January 7, 2022 at her family’s home near Toowoomba, west of Brisbane, after her parents, brother and 11 other members of “the Saints” church group gathered to pray around her.
Her father, Jason Richard Struhs, had stopped administering insulin shots for her type-1 diabetes.
The Struhs family and their religious beliefs that forbid all modern medical treatments had been known to child protection authorities since 2013, coroner Ainslie Kirkegaard heard at a pre-inquest conference in Brisbane on Thursday.
The inquest will look at the adequacy and appropriateness of decisions by multiple Queensland government agencies in their handling of Elizabeth and her parents.
“The unusual circumstances in which Elizabeth died have drawn widespread public outrage and condemnation,” Kirkegaard said.
Elizabeth had come to the attention of police and child protection authorities in July 2019.
Read more https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/girl-returned-to-killer-parents-despite-cult-warning-20260312-p5oa0d.html
Content retrieved from: https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/girl-returned-to-killer-parents-despite-cult-warning-20260312-p5oa0d.html.
