New details have emerged in the tragic case of Charmaine McLeod and her four children who died in a fiery crash on the Bunya Highway in 2019. The inquest into their deaths revealed that police believed the crash was a murder-suicide related to family court proceedings. The case also exposed allegations of domestic abuse and child sexual assault.
An eight-page handwritten note found in Charmaine’s handbag after the crash blamed the court system and lack of help for domestic abuse victims and children. Police believed this note was central to the theory that the crash was a murder-suicide.
During the inquest, it was revealed that Charmaine had reported her abusive husband, James McLeod, for sexual assault. However, no allegations against him were ever proven. Police did not pursue the allegations and one officer even believed that one of the allegations was “completely fabricated.”
Testimonies from friends and a childcare worker also revealed allegations of child sexual assault. One friend overheard a police officer tell Charmaine that an investigation into an allegation of sexual assault against her daughter had been dropped due to the belief that the child had been coached on what to say. The former childcare worker testified that one of Charmaine’s sons had twice demanded that other children engage in sexual behavior and had approached her with a knife.
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