A Perth couple found guilty of starving their teenage daughter is pleading for leniency, while their now 20-year-old daughter blames the media for her parents' predicament. The parents, who have been in jail since last November, were found guilty of causing their daughter to suffer by failing to provide adequate nutrition and emotional, social, and functional development. The girl's shocking case, involving severe malnutrition and a near-death experience, has captivated the public.
A sentencing hearing for a Perth couple found guilty of starving their teenage daughter heard the father did not intentionally put her at risk. The girl, now aged 20, made a surprise appearance in court today, and letters written by her to the judge revealed she blames herself and the media for her parents' predicament.
A young woman who was at risk of death after her parents starved her as a teenager has made an emotional appeal to a Perth judge to spare her parents further punishment, saying she blames herself and the media for their predicament. The parents, from Perth's affluent western suburbs, have been in jail since last November when they were found guilty by a jury of causing their child to suffer by failing to provide adequate nutrition, and failing to provide emotional, social and functional development. The girl was almost 17 when she was eventually taken to hospital in 2022, weighing around 27 kilograms, the average weight of an eight-year-old. Doctors had warned her parents she was at risk of cardiac arrest but they resisted treatment, including a gastric feeding tube, resulting in the Department of Communities removing her from their care to enable the crucial treatment to begin. At a sentencing hearing for the pair on Thursday, the Perth District Court was told the girl had written two letters to Judge Linda Black, one this week and one in July last year. The letters detailed how she 'doesn't accept she was offended against in any way, shape or form', prosecutor Jehna Winter told the court. Judge Black said the letters, the full contents of which were not read in court, showed she 'blames herself for her parents' conduct' and blames the media for the consequences. Ms Winter said in the letters, the now 20-year-old maintains 'she's not a victim of her parents', that she chose her own diet, and 'her parents' predicament is likely of her making.' 'I lived a quiet life like every child should … I want my life back.' 'It must be awful for her,' she said. However, Ms Winter said the letters showed the consequences of her parents' offending, which included a lack of understanding of what she had suffered and their role in it. She said their actions constituted a 'fundamental failure of parenting' and had 'catastrophic consequences' for the woman, including stunted growth, an inability to meet her development potential, as well as psychological and emotional implications. The court heard the girl's father did not realise the seriousness of her condition and did not intentionally put her life at risk. Defence lawyer Oliver Paxman said the father 'strove to give his daughter everything she could ever want', including toys, ballet lessons and piano lessons. Mr Paxman said there was no evidence the father had withheld food from his daughter or restricted her calories — in fact, he had 'spent considerable amounts of money' on organic food for her. The parents cannot be identified to protect the identity of their daughter, who was a child at the time the offences occurred. The girl, who is now 20, made an unexpected appearance in court today, accompanied by two women. Dressed in jeans and a pink frilled top and holding a tote bag, she sat at the back of the court, smiling at her parents as they were led into the dock. Her father waved and smiled at her, while her mother also waved and gave a sad smile, mouth trembling, before returning her gaze to the floor. The strange case of the malnourished teenager and the parents whom police have accused of deliberately starving her has been aired in public for the first time in Perth's District Court in recent weeks. While Judge Black indicated she was inclined to accept that the parents did not deliberately starve their daughter, she said there were signs they recklessly put her life in danger. 'In this case level of recklessness was at the top end ... and the consequences that flowed were potentially life threatening and fatal,' she said. Judge Black told Mr Paxman if the department had not intervened when it did, 'the consequence of your client's conduct was potentially to result in the death of their child'. Both Mr Paxman and the mother's lawyer Michael Perrella argued that their clients suffered severe mental illnesses in the form of obsessive compulsive disorder, which had clouded their judgement and contributed to their offending. Mr Perella said the mother's mental illness reduced her moral culpability for the crimes she committed against her daughter. He said the girl's mother had an abusive upbringing and 'her childhood experiences had blinkered her as to what was normal'. This was reinforced by her lack of interaction with other parents and children because of her decision to homeschool her daughter
STARVATION CHILD ABUSE MENTAL ILLNESS AUSTRALIA PERTH COURT CASE SENTENCING
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