1/10/2020 Vegan parents avoid jail after diet leaves baby with cerebral palsy

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Vegan parents avoid jail for starving baby of nutrients

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Vegan parents have avoided jail after their baby daughter was left with a permanent disability due to malnutrition from
a plant-based diet.

Caroline Schelle NCA NewsWire SEPTEMBER 28, 2020 12:06PM

Vegan parents starved their baby of nutrients in an extreme plant-based diet, the County Court of Victoria has been told.
Picture Alicia Bee Source:Herald Sun

Vegan parents starved their baby of nutrients in an extreme plant-based diet and left
their daughter with a “devastating” permanent disability.
The couple, who cannot be identified, avoided jail after pleading guilty to
negligently causing serious injury in the County Court of Victoria on Monday.
They were both ordered to serve a 12-month community corrections order and
undertake mental health treatment, Judge Claire Quin ordered.
Their daughter was left with cerebral palsy caused from malnutrition because of the
strict diet.
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They also found the baby had severe protein-calorie malnutrition known as
“Kwashiorkor”, which is often seen in children from countries experiencing a
famine, the court was told.
Seven days before the dad, 34, rushed the infant to hospital he wrote an email to a
US-based “herbal” health club for advice.
“hi my 1 year old has stopped wanting to drink/eat and when she does its not
staying down or she start to cough. What can I do to help her keep it down and
allow her to drink. She doesn’t have a temp. She is on a fruit diet. Please help asap,”
the father wrote in an email to the US-consultant.
Instead of advising the man to take his child to hospital, the consultant suggested a
“stomach tea” for the baby.
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1/10/2020 Vegan parents avoid jail after diet leaves baby with cerebral palsy

https://www.news.com.au/national/victoria/courts-law/vegan-parents-avoid-jail-for-starving-baby-of-nutrients/news-story/a8b1dccb72 Go
A week later the girl, who weighed just 6.040kg, was in intensive care. She
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The parents started to feed the baby a mix of coconutKiller

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and powders instead of Top health Gunman’s
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Despite growing concerns from their maternal care nurse about the baby’s growth claim Macca’s
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The young girl now faces a challenging life. Source:Supplied

“The coconut mixture is definitely not appropriate as this is not nutritionally

adequate for an infant,” the nurse told the couple in an email amid growing concern.
They eventually stopped engaging with medical professionals and turned to
alternative websites in Queensland and the US for advice.
In one message the mother, 32, sent to her partner, she asked if he would raise the
issue about their daughter’s “weight loss and floppiness of her body” with the
consultant in the United States.
But the parents, who have since separated, were spared jail.
The girl is now in the care of the mother, who shows a “commitment and devotion”
to her daughter and engages with healthcare professionals.
“The exercise of mercy is warranted,” Judge Quin told the court as the mother
wiped tears from her eyes.
But she told the parents their daughter had a long road ahead of her, but her
condition had improved with the benefit of a balanced diet and proper healthcare.
“She faces a difficult and challenging life,” the judge said of the now three-year-old
girl.
If either parent breaches the community corrections order or the conditions they
would have to face court again for a re-sentence.

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