• News
  • Film and TV
  • Music
  • Tech
  • Features
  • Celebrity
  • Politics
  • Weird
  • Community
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
TikTok
YouTube
Submit Your Content
Parents accused of starving ballerina daughter to try and keep her a 'little girl forever'

Home> News> World News

Published 11:46 1 Feb 2025 GMT

Parents accused of starving ballerina daughter to try and keep her a 'little girl forever'

The daughter made a surprising comment regarding her parents' sentencing

Gerrard Kaonga

Gerrard Kaonga

Warning: This article contains discussion of child abuse which some readers may find distressing.

A judge has sentenced two parents to jail after being found guilty of child abuse-related charges.

The Australian couple, both 47, are parents to a now 20-year-old daughter and in court, it was revealed they had kept her on a very strict diet to ensure she ‘remain a little girl forever’.

In November 2024, the parents, who resided in a wealthy suburb of Perth, were found guilty by a jury. The identity of the parents and the daughter has not been revealed.

Advert

They were found guilty of conduct that caused their child to suffer by failing to provide adequate nutrition.

The judge condemned the two parents as she sentenced them (WA District Court)
The judge condemned the two parents as she sentenced them (WA District Court)

Concerns were first raised when the girl’s ballet teachers grew suspicious about how gaunt she had become.

The couple were also found guilty of failing to provide emotional, social and functional development to her, ABC.net reports. Separately, the father pleaded guilty to forging his daughter's birth certificate to make her appear younger than she was.

Advert

On Friday (January 31), he was sentenced to six-and-a-half years in jail and the mother was sentenced to five years in jail.

The court heard how the extent to make their child seem younger went even further. Prosecutors told how the parents tried to keep their daughter looking like a little girl, dressing her preschool-aged clothing despite her being 16.

In addition, prosecutors argued that the parents had kept the child hidden from the world, having her homeschooled for most of her life.

Defense attorneys argued that this behavior stemmed from the members of the family suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder - which allegedly clouded their judgement.

Advert

Judge Linda Black firmly condemned the parents as she sentenced the pair.

She said their conduct, including ignoring medical advice from professionals, was ‘quite simply unfathomable’.

The girl's ballet teachers grew concerned about her appearance (WA District Court)
The girl's ballet teachers grew concerned about her appearance (WA District Court)

The judge said: “You put your own opinions ahead of what was best for your daughter.

Advert

“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.”

The unnamed daughter appeared in court and began sobbing when her parents' sentences were announced and they were taken into police custody, ABC.net reports.

Before the sentencing, she even read a statement to the court saying that she didn’t believe her family wronged her ‘in any way’.

If you’ve been affected by any of these issues or want to speak to someone in confidence regarding the welfare of a child, the Childhelp USA National Child Abuse Hotline (1-800-4-A-CHILD (1-800-422-4453) operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and receives calls from throughout the United States, Canada, US Virgin Islands, Guam and Puerto Rico.

Featured Image Credit: WA District Court

Topics: Australia, News, Health, Parenting

Gerrard Kaonga
Gerrard Kaonga

Gerrard is a Journalist at UNILAD and has dived headfirst into covering everything from breaking global stories to trending entertainment news. He has a bachelors in English Literature from Brunel University and has written across a number of different national and international publications. Most notably the Financial Times, Daily Express, Evening Standard and Newsweek.

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

5 hours ago
6 hours ago
7 hours ago
  • 5 hours ago

    Ex-pilot of B-2 stealth bomber reveals disturbing truth of going to toilet on 44-hour mission

    Air Force colonel Melvin Deaile had to go for a wee every 60 minutes

    News
  • 6 hours ago

    People left stunned as woman breaks down exactly how much it costs to give birth in America

    You could put deposits down on several houses for that!

    News
  • 7 hours ago

    Doctor gives 'deeply concerning' warning after man injected himself with sperm to 'cure back pain'

    A man self-medicated by injecting himself with his own semen to 'cure' his back pain

    News
  • 7 hours ago

    Rosie O’Donnell issues scathing response to all the celebrities who attended Jeff Bezos’ $56,000,000 wedding

    "Seeing all these billionaires gathering in the gross excess of it all. The show of it," she wrote on Instagram.

    Celebrity
  • Parents of woman who chose to be euthanized aged 33 explain heartbreaking reason why they supported her decision
  • Husband of 50 years accused of drugging wife and watching 72 men rape her
  • Kanye West accused by former assistant of drugging and sexually assaulting her at a Diddy party
  • Mom who 'sold six-year-old daughter for $1,100 for her eyes and skin' receives prison sentence