Melbourne Mom Gets 3-Year Jail Sentence for Leaving Toddler Inside Hot Car for Almost Five Hours

A Melbourne mom who left her son in her car for five hours with windows rolled up and no air conditioning while playing poker was sentenced to three years in jail.

According to the 9News, Kaija Millar, 34, left her son Easton in her car for four hours and 50 minutes on January 5, 2020, as she played bingo and used the pokies at a Point Cook Hotel.

When Millar parked the car before 10 AM, the temperature was already 31C. She left her child inside the vehicle with the windows shut and no air conditioning. The temperature reached 37.5 degrees while she played bingo and the pokies.

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Leaving toddler in a hot car

At around 3 PM, when she got back to the car, Easton was foaming at the mouth, convulsing, and unresponsive.

Millar rushed to the hotel to get help, telling people who helped that he was suffering from the bushfire smoke haze in the area. She also lied and said that Easton had only been in the car for two hours, with air conditioning and opened windows. She also told paramedics not to tell her husband that she had been at the pokies. She claimed that she checked on Easton every two hours.

The incident caused the toddler to have severe cerebral palsy, cognitive and communication impairments, blindness, and other illnesses that he may not recover from. The County Court Judge Felicity Hampel told The Age that Easton was a healthy baby before he was left in the car.

The consequence of leaving a toddler in a hot car

The court heard that Millar, a former Uber driver, has a relatively low IQ of between 62-73. She was also reported to have been struggling as a first-time mom and had experienced postnatal depression.

Judge Hampel said she accepted those factors may have impaired her judgment and reduced her moral culpability. However, Hampel noted that Millar knew she should not have left Easton inside the car as she lied when she asked for help for her son.

Millar maintained that she checked on her son every two hours, but Judge Hampel said that the CCTV from the outside showed that she never checked on her son until before 3 PM.

Hampel also said that Easton's disabilities were a consequence of her actions. According to the judge, the baby is now entirely dependent on carers all his life.

"Your son suffered these injuries because you left him unattended and uncared for inside a locked car on a scorching hot day," Hampel added.

Judge Hampel also noted that Millar was ultimately remorseful of her actions, pleading guilty to a single charge of negligently causing serious injury. The charge carries a jail term of ten years at most. However, she also found that the mother may not care for her son.

Melbourne's Magistrate Court was told that Millar is now estranged from her husband, Steve. 

According to DailyMail, Steve's parents and brothers had been accompanying him to the hospital for Easton's check-ups.

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