As a parent, it can be bittersweet to watch your child grow up and become their own person. It’s understandable that moms and dads would want to allow their kids to be, well, kids for as long as possible. However, a set of parents was recently sentenced after starving their ballerina daughter so they could keep her a little girl “forever.”
In November 2024, Australian parents were found guilty of multiple counts related to their daughter’s malnourishment and overall condition. The couple’s names were not publicly released, as their child was a minor when the abuse happened. But in late January, the parents learned their fate.
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The parents were sentenced in January after starving their teenage daughter.
On Jan. 31, the Perth parents were sentenced to jail for their part in the emaciation of their teenage daughter, now 20, ABC.net reported. The father was sentenced to six and a half years in prison. Meanwhile, the mother was sentenced to five years.
Prosecutors detailed the daughter’s living conditions.
During the trial, prosecutors claimed the parents attempted to keep their daughter a little girl by treating and dressing her like a preschooler at the age of 16, WA Today reported. The couple lied to dance school teachers about her age and homeschooled her, keeping her isolated most of the time. Additionally, prosecutors said people were shocked by the teenager’s emaciated appearance when they did see her.
In 2021, the daughter weighed just 60 pounds.
After the teenager’s dance teachers alerted authorities about her concerning condition, the father refused to allow welfare officers into their home, ABC.net reported. The couple “repeatedly resisted attempts to seek medical help” for their 16-year-old daughter, according to the publication. When they finally did take her to a doctor, she weighed only 60 pounds.
Allegedly, the parents took their daughter to Perth Children’s Hospital after receiving a letter from the Department of Child Protection. They still resisted treatment, refusing a nasal feeding tube for their seriously ill child. Welfare authorities ultimately transferred the girl into state care, and she spent 54 days in a hospital gaining weight and recovering.
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The daughter also struggled with basic self-care and had child-like interests.
In addition to failing to provide adequate nutrition, the Australian parents were found guilty of failing to provide emotional, social, and functional development. Prosecutors described the daughter’s difficulty in basic self-care — like using the toilet, brushing her teeth, peeling a banana, brushing her hair, getting dressed, and more, per ABC.net. Her interests were also child-like, including a love for Disney princesses, soft toys, and TV shows made for preschoolers.
During sentencing, the judge sent a strong message to the couple.
Judge Linda Black issued a direct message to the parents during their sentencing. “You put your own opinions ahead of what was best for your daughter,” she told them, per ABC.net.
Additionally, Black scolded the mother and father for ignoring medical advice, calling their actions “quite simply unfathomable.”
“The people who loved her most were the same people who hurt her,” she said.
Black also told them, “You have created a child who is not able to function as an independent adult at the age of more than 20 years old. She’s never been allowed to grow up.”
