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.
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They were found guilty of conduct that caused their child to suffer by failing to provide adequate nutrition.
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.
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.
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 judge said: “You put your own opinions ahead of what was best for your daughter.
“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.