Joseph drove through floodwaters to give a five-year-old ‘an adventure’. He’s now pleaded guilty to the boy’s death

While heading home from a day at the zoo three years ago, Joseph El Jer drove his 4WD Toyota Hilux through water reaching up to 1.3 metres on the Genaren Creek crossing near Tullamore, northwest of Parkes, because his five-year-old passenger wanted “an adventure”.

Moments later, the boy drowned after the car was swept away and submerged in the floodwater.

That’s according to the agreed facts tendered to the NSW District Court as the 40-year-old pleaded guilty to dangerous driving occasioning death of the child, who can’t be named for legal reasons.

On the night of September 22, 2022, during the Central West NSW floods, El Jer was at his property in Tullamore when he texted a neighbour asking if “Tullamore to Dubbo roads are open”. When told “all access roads closed”, he responded “thanks mate” and said he would be visiting Dubbo Zoo the next morning.

His neighbour sent through screenshots of a Parkes Shire Council Facebook post advising of road closures.

El Jer then searched “is [sic] Tullamore to Dubbo roads open” on Google and opened a link to Narromine Shire Council which stated Genaren Creek Crossing, a low-lying concrete causeway without safety rails on The McGrane Way, was closed after 100 millimetres of rain in 24 hours.

The same neighbour told El Jer he’ll “have to go condo[bolin] first then parkes” and El Jer responded: “I just checked Tullamore to dubbo roads are closed … good night bro.”

The next morning, El Jer drove to Dubbo Zoo with his wife and two other passengers via the towns of Trundle and Peak Hill, near Parkes, rather than the more direct route of The McGrane Way, later telling police he did so as his neighbour told him Genaren Creek Crossing was “too high to cross”.

Upon leaving the zoo, El Jer “made the decision” to drive the more direct route, the fact sheet states.

He drove through sections of the McGrane Way that were “covered with water” until arriving at Genaren Creek Crossing at about 4:30pm.

Two signs in front of him signalled the fast-flowing floodwater was between 1 metre and 1.3 metres high.

After entering the water, El Jer “determined that he would reverse the vehicle back out of the water, and did so for a considerable distance,” the agreed facts state.

But as he did so, a five-year-old boy said words to the effect of “don’t be a sook”.

“The offender then said (either to himself or out loud) ‘nah, f--- it, we are gonna make it’, decided to ‘give it a go’ and drove across the flooded causeway.”

As he did this, the 4WD was swept off the road and pushed downstream.

A panicked El Jer unbuckled his seatbelt, opened his door and pushed through the water to open a fully submerged rear door as water had filled the car.

He unbuckled one passenger and took her to a nearby tree fork and swam back to retrieve another passenger, who was unconscious. He resuscitated that passenger and put him with the other rescued person before returning to the car to find his then-28-year-old wife unconscious.

He tried to “secure” his wife and performed CPR on her.

Swimming back to the car multiple times, he couldn’t save the five-year-old boy as he was trapped in his booster seat with his seatbelt stuck fastened.

For the next four to five hours, the passengers clung to trees as El Jer pulled his wife up from underneath the water several times.

About two hours later, a second car – a Toyota Camry – attempted to cross the Genaren Creek crossing. They, too, were swept off the road, but managed to escape and heard calls for help through the trees.

The men called triple zero and police arrived shortly after 9pm. An emergency response was set up on the Tullamore side of the creek as more rescue crews rushed to help.

By around 10pm, the surviving passengers had all been rescued via boat. In a comment captured by police body-warn footage El Jer said: “It’s f---ed up. I should have listened to [his neighbour].”

Speaking to his neighbour on the phone, he said “I need to see [the five-year-old]. I need to tell him I f---ed up.”

He told police: “And [the five-year-old] was happy for his adventure and [to] go through the water and that’s what convinced me to keep going.”

Saying it was “his fault” and calling himself a “dickhead”, El Jer said he “tried to rip the belt but the belt was tucked in”.

After the passengers were taken to hospital, El Jer’s wife was admitted to ICU with “generalised consolidation of both lungs”, hypoxia – when the body can’t get enough oxygen – and back and chest pain. She was discharged a few days later.

The next day, the boy’s body was retrieved from the car (dangerous floodwaters had prevented the removal). Divers had to wait for oxygen which could not be flown via helicopter.

The vehicle, with a drive mode in “4 high”, was retrieved and seized.

El Jer was arrested on November 23 and declined a police interview but provided a DNA swab.

He was refused bail by police and spent a night in custody before he was released by a magistrate.

An initial charge of manslaughter was withdrawn and El Jer pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing death, with a back-up offence of negligent driving causing death.

He is due to be sentenced on September 11.

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