澳大利亚华人母亲涉旅馆藏婴尸案被控刑事疏忽：Adelaide汽车旅馆房内发现男婴遗体 南澳卫生系统查无母子记录
Adelaide——澳大利亚南澳大利亚州卫生部长 Blair Boyer 10月17日表示，州卫生部门在全州共享的卫生数据库中，查不到一名在 Adelaide 汽车旅馆房内被发现死亡的男婴、以及男婴42岁母亲 Yue Ning Lieu 的任何就诊记录，男婴究竟在哪里出生，目前仍未能确认。Lieu 是澳大利亚华人女子，又名 Linda Lieu；她与40岁伴侣 Benjamin Nicholas Houghton 已同被控刑事疏忽和藏匿人体遗骸以妨碍司法公正，两人目前还押候审，预计2027年5月3日再出庭。
据南澳警方发布的案情，10月10日（周六）上午，警方接获线索，前往 Adelaide 东南郊 Glen Osmond 的 Tollgate Motel，对一名据信住在旅馆内的婴儿进行福利检查（welfare check）。警员进入旅馆4号房后，发现一具婴儿遗体；据ABC报道，遗体被发现时盖在毯子下面。警方表示，这名婴儿在被发现时已经死亡「一段时间」。据当地媒体报道，这次福利检查源于一通打到旅馆的匿名电话，对方提示应去查看4号房里的婴儿；警方未公布报警人身份。
10月12日（周一）进行的尸检显示，死者是一名约6至7个月大的男婴。据ABC援引的法庭文件，两人被指控的犯罪行为发生在今年8月9日至10月10日之间。警方10月13日宣布，两人已被控刑事疏忽（criminal neglect）及销毁、藏匿人体遗骸以妨碍司法公正（destroy/conceal human remains to pervert the course of justice）；据澳媒报道，Houghton 还另被加控一项妨碍警察（hindering police）。两人在被起诉前，先依据精神健康法被拘留。
10月12日，两人在 Adelaide 地方法院以床边聆讯（bedside hearing）方式过堂，均未申请保释，被还押至2027年5月3日再审。
警方表示，这对伴侣今年年初抵达南澳大利亚州后，就一直住在 Tollgate Motel 的4号房，此后从未与南澳任何政府部门有过接触。南澳州长 Peter Malinauskas 表示，这户家庭不在州儿童保护部门掌握的名单之内。南澳警察部长 Michael Brown 10月13日证实指控已经提出，但表示暂无更多可公布的信息。
案件最初由南澳警方东区警探负责调查，警方称因案情性质复杂、所需资源较多，已由重案调查组（Major Crime Investigation Branch）接手。警方呼吁，凡曾入住 Tollgate Motel、特别是知悉4号房住客情况的人，致电灭罪热线 Crime Stoppers 1800 333 000 提供线索，可匿名举报。
据ABC报道，Lieu 在2021年曾带着她当时2岁的女儿——那是另一个孩子——在 Sydney 南区 Riverwood 被报失踪，新南威尔士州警方当年曾公开发寻人启事；Lieu 在其个人博客中自称是一名中医师，在 Sydney 生活和工作。本案男婴与2021年失踪通报中的女童不是同一个孩子。
截至发稿，警方未公布男婴死因，指控仍有待法庭审理。警方表示，现阶段不会就调查作进一步评论。（GSM 据南澳大利亚州警方官方发布及 ABC、AAP 报道）
Chinese-Australian Mother Charged With Criminal Neglect After Baby Found Dead in Adelaide Motel; SA Health Holds No Records of Mother or Child
ADELAIDE — South Australia's Health Minister Blair Boyer said on October 17 that the state's health authorities could find no record of a baby boy found dead inside an Adelaide motel room, or of his 42-year-old mother, Yue Ning Lieu, anywhere in the SA Health database, and that the baby's birthplace still could not be confirmed. Lieu, a Chinese-Australian woman also known as Linda Lieu, and her 40-year-old partner Benjamin Nicholas Houghton have both been charged with criminal neglect and concealing human remains to pervert the course of justice. They remain in custody, with their next court appearance set for May 3, 2027.
According to South Australia Police, officers attended the Tollgate Motel at Glen Osmond, in Adelaide's south-east, on the morning of Saturday, October 10 to conduct a welfare check on an infant believed to be staying at the motel. Police gained entry to room four and located the body of a deceased infant; ABC reported the body was found underneath blankets. Police said the infant had been deceased for a period of time. Local media reported the welfare check followed an anonymous call to the motel suggesting police check on the baby in room four; police have not publicly identified the caller.
A post-mortem conducted on Monday, October 12 found the boy was aged about six to seven months. According to court documents cited by ABC, the alleged offences occurred between August 9 and October 10 this year. Police announced on October 13 that the pair had been charged with criminal neglect and destroying or concealing human remains to pervert the course of justice; Australian media reported Houghton was additionally charged with one count of hindering police. The pair had been detained under the Mental Health Act before the charges were laid.
On October 12 the couple appeared before the Adelaide Magistrates Court in a bedside hearing. Neither applied for bail, and both were remanded in custody until May 3, 2027.
Police said the couple had been living in room four of the Tollgate Motel since arriving in South Australia at the beginning of the year, and had not had contact with South Australian authorities since that time. SA Premier Peter Malinauskas said the family was not known to the state's child protection department. SA Police Minister Michael Brown confirmed on October 13 that charges had been laid but said he had no further information he could provide.
The investigation was initially conducted by Eastern District detectives, but police said that due to the nature and complexity of the incident and the resources required, the Major Crime Investigation Branch has taken over. Police are asking anyone who has stayed at the Tollgate Motel, and specifically anyone with information about the occupants of room four, to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000; callers can remain anonymous.
ABC reported that in 2021 Lieu was reported missing with her then two-year-old daughter — a different child — from Riverwood in Sydney's south, and New South Wales Police issued a public appeal to locate them at the time. In a blog, Lieu describes herself as a traditional Chinese medicine practitioner living and working in Sydney. The baby boy in this case is not the child named in the 2021 missing-person appeal.
Police have not released the baby's cause of death, and the charges remain before the courts. Police said no further comment would be made at this stage of the investigation. (GSM, based on South Australia Police statements and ABC and AAP reports)
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图片来源：图：澳大利亚 Adelaide 市中心全景（资料图）。照片：Vishnubonam／Wikimedia Commons（CC BY-SA 4.0）。Adelaide city centre panorama, South Australia (file photo). Photo: Vishnubonam / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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