Parents in the Lower Rhine region let their two children starve for months – now both have been sentenced to prison. Three and a half years in prison for the father, two years and nine months for the mother were the verdicts handed down by the regional court in Moers.
It is believed that the parents maliciously neglected their children – probably for years, said the presiding judge. When the authorities took the girls into care in 2021, both were already in a life-threatening condition due to malnutrition. The parents had stated that they were overwhelmed with caring for their children. The verdicts are not yet final.
When doctors described the condition of the two girls during the trial, the courtroom fell silent. The two could barely walk, barely speak and had to learn how to handle solid food. Their stomachs were bloated in a way that is otherwise only seen in starving children in developing countries. The two-year-old weighed 8.4 kilos, and the almost four-year-old girl weighed 10.2 kilos. At first they had to be fed artificially.
In the end, the police and the judiciary were unable to determine how long the conditions in the family in Kamp-Lintfort had been so disastrous. The doctors were certain that the girls must have been starving for at least several months. But there was also much to suggest that they had already been left alone in their cribs for long periods of time, said the public prosecutor.
The parents had partially admitted the accusations in court. “I failed miserably,” said the father in his closing statement. Perhaps he had not cooked enough at times, he had previously stated. Recently, he had only prepared soups and light meals because of the children’s gastrointestinal illness.
But this could not have led to the massive malnutrition, doctors stressed in the trial. There is no doubt that the parents deliberately denied their children food and attention, the presiding judge concluded. “There was food, the pantry was full.”
The judge spoke of “considerable selfishness”. Because their own need for rest was more important to them, the parents had deliberately denied their children affection and food. In the end, this could be described as “malicious”. Even before it was clear that the children would not be returning to their parents from the hospital, the parents had cleared out the children’s room and made it a room for their games console.
The defense had vehemently rejected the accusation of malice. The father and mother were simply overwhelmed by the situation, argued the lawyers for the two. But the court saw it differently.
The girls are now living with foster families. The foster parents reported that they have really blossomed there. Nevertheless, doctors believe that they will probably have to struggle with the consequences of malnutrition and neglect for the rest of their lives.
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