Perth parents blame 27kg teenage daughter for starvation

A Perth couple are on trial accused of starving their 17-year-old daughter to the point where she weighed just over 27kg and was at risk of a heart attack.

WARNING: This story contains details that may be upsetting to some.

Prosecutors said the girl was “emaciated, with limited fat” and so emaciated that she was only 11 years old.

They say her parents, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, refused to acknowledge these concerns, saying she was naturally small and ate a “healthy vegan diet.”

Dance teachers sound the alarm

On the first day of the trial in district court, their daughter, now an adult, was home-schooled and loved dancing but had the mental capacity of a much younger child.

It was her dance teachers who raised the alarm, which led to the intervention of the Washington State Department of Child Welfare and the girl’s admission to the hospital in 2021.

Prosecutor Jena Winter said dance school teachers were so concerned about her appearance and lack of physical development that they contacted the girl’s mother.

But her mother dismissed those concerns, saying she was a premature baby and there was a “small stature” in the family.

Ms Winter said she claimed her daughter “eats too many carrots” and always eats healthy.

Lies about her age

The court heard the girl’s parents lied about her age, telling people their daughter was born in 2006 when in fact she was born two years earlier.

Prosecutor Winter said the girl’s condition worsened by 2019, vomiting during a dance class and showing signs of “weakness and fatigue.”

Concerned about her strength and stamina, the dance teacher refused to invite her to the dance festival and tried to cut her program.

The teacher, who had a medical background, wanted the girl to undergo a health screening before she could be re-enrolled.

The parents resisted, the court heard, with the father claiming she suffered discrimination because she was “thin and vegan”.

In response, they enrolled her in another dance school, but there, too, concerns were expressed for her daughter.

At this school, a teacher told the mother that her daughter’s “lack of weight and muscle tone affected her dancing.”

Teachers at both schools were also concerned about the girl’s behavior and communication, the court heard, and she wore bows, frills and clothing consistent with what younger children would wear.

The court was told the dance costume she wore was a children’s size six – the same as the one her teacher’s six-year-old son was wearing.

The prosecutor said the girl appeared to have “no independence.”

The authorities intervened

In 2020, the Department of Child Welfare began an investigation into the family.

According to the prosecutor, attempts to undergo a medical examination were unsuccessful until the girl was taken to see a therapist in April 2021.

Her father claimed that she had lost weight due to exams and had allergies.

The court was told her father described her as “the healthiest child he knew”.

But the doctor who examined her found that her weight was 27 kilograms and her height barely exceeded 147 centimeters.

Her body mass index (BMI) was 12.5, compared with a healthy BMI of 18.25, the court was told.

The doctor wanted her to rush to the hospital, but the mother resisted, saying her daughter was still dealing with the recent death of her 22-year-old cat.

She was admitted to Perth Children’s Hospital a few days after she saw a GP, and doctors there tried to convince her parents of the need for medical help.

They refused to consent to the use of a feeding tube, and the department used its powers to take custody of her.

She was found to have the average height of an 11-year-old, the bone age of a 13-year-old, and delayed puberty.

Health improves in hospital

During her 50 days in the hospital, her height increased to 151 centimeters, and her weight exceeded 35 kilograms.

Prosecutor Winter said the then 17-year-old was not born premature and did not suffer from the allergies her father claimed.

Her condition was not explained by genetics or hormones, she told the court.

Ms Winter said there were concerns about her social and environmental development as she enjoyed TV programs such as The Wiggles, Teletubbies, Charlie and Lola and other shows favored by younger children.

The occupational therapist found that although she was articulate, she lacked the ability to care for herself.

The court was told the girl left hospital in May 2021 under the care of a relative.

By February 2022, the court heard, she was more than 41 kilograms and 154 centimeters tall and had started menstruating.

Her parents are charged with “conduct likely to cause distress to a child.”

Before the trial began, the father pleaded guilty to forging her birth certificate.

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