THE identities of three men and a woman who bound, starved, punished and neglected five innocent children in an Adelaide home can finally be revealed.
Supreme Court Justice Kevin Duggan today said there was no longer any reason the names of Luke Andrew Armistead, Robert Armistead, Michael Benjamin Quinlivan and Tania Marie Staker should be obscured.
Armistead, Armistead and Quinlivan were last week found guilty, by a jury, of two counts each of aggravated acts to endanger life, and three counts each of aggravated acts creating a risk of serious harm.
Staker - the mastermind of the cruel regime - pleaded guilty to the same charges prior to trial.
Although no suppression orders had been placed on the group's identities, AdelaideNow chose not to name them so as to ensure the trial proceeded without impediment.
Today, Justice Duggan commended the media on their approach to the difficult case.
"The media have, quite properly, taken a careful attitude towards this matter," he said.
"But I think the court should now say something to indicate that publication of the names of these prisoners will not identify the victims."
Staker and the men committed their crimes in a northern suburbs home between February and June 2008.
They were among 20 adults and children who lived in the house.
During the trial, the jury heard Staker masterminded "a cruel regime" to punish the children.
They had been fathered by her then-partner, Luke Armistead, and another woman - whose identity is suppressed to protect the children.
That woman subsequently had a relationship with Michael Quinlivan, who also lived in the house.
Staker and Quinlivan are siblings, while Robert Armistead is Luke Armistead's former step-father.
The children suffered starvation, malnutrition, emaciation and scabies.
Authorities became aware of the situation when one child was taken to hospital with a head injury and severe hypothermia.
During the trial, jurors heard the children survived on chips and noodles when they were permitted to eat.
One day, they were given dog food and told "if you're hungry, eat this".
The children's mother - who also pleaded guilty to criminal neglect - said she lived in fear of Staker, claiming to be "numb" because of her own dysfunctional childhood.
One of the five children, who gave evidence before the jury, said they were fed enough to keep them alive "but not that much".
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