THREE men, including a father, have been found guilty of participating in the cruel abuse suffered by five malnourished, seriously ill children in a northern suburbs house. A Supreme Court jury of eight men and four women returned its verdict today after six hours of deliberation.
They found the men - who cannot be named - guilty of two counts each of aggravated acts to endanger life, and three counts each of aggravated acts creating a risk of serious harm, Adelaide Now reports.
The charges relate to events that occurred in a house occupied by more than 20 people, including six adults, between February and June 2008.
The five children suffered under what prosecutors called "a cruel regime" masterminded by a woman, who pleaded guilty prior to the trial.
They said that woman wanted to punish the children, who had been fathered by her partner and his former girlfriend.
Both the father - one of the men on trial - and the former girlfriend - who also pleaded guilty prior to trial - lived in the house.
The five children suffered starvation, malnutrition, emaciation and scabies.
Authorities became aware of the situation when one child was taken to hospital with a head injury, severe hypothermia and a temperature of just 26C.
During the three-week trial, jurors heard the children were denied food and, on the occasions they did eat, survived on chips and noodles.
One day, they were given dog food and told "if you're hungry, eat this".
One of the five children, who gave evidence before the jury, said he and his siblings were fed enough to keep them alive "but not that much".
"When we woke up we would have to stand near the wall through the whole day," he told jurors.
"We had a little bit of food, which wasn't that much... we never said anything (about it) because they would have beaten us up."
Another child who lived in the house - but was not abused - said some of the children were bound, hand and foot, with sticky tape "to stop them stealing food".
Giving evidence in his defence, the father of the five children admitted he "turned a blind eye" to the abuse.
This evening, Justice Kevin Duggan remanded the men in custody to a directions hearing next Wednesday.
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