Vegan mom gets life in prison following death of son from malnutrition

[ItsjustMe]

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/sheila-oleary-sentenced-life-toddler-starvation_n_630f6d58e4b07744a2fc29c1

Sheila O’Leary's 18-month-old son weighed 17 pounds and was the size of a 7-month-old baby when he died in 2019, a police report said.

A vegan woman convicted of murder in the malnutrition death of her young son was sentenced Monday to life in prison.

Sheila O’Leary, 38, whose family followed a strict vegan diet, was convicted in June on six charges — first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse, aggravated manslaughter, child abuse and two counts of child neglect — in the death of Ezra O’Leary. Her sentencing in Lee County, Florida, had previously been postponed four times.

Her husband, Ryan Patrick O’Leary, remains in jail while awaiting trial on the same charges. Investigators said the couple told them the family ate only raw fruits and vegetables, although the toddler also was fed breast milk. The 18-month-old boy weighed 17 pounds (8 kilograms) and was the size of a 7-month-old baby when he died in September 2019, a police report said.

The Cape Coral couple had two other children, ages 3 and 5, who also were malnourished, investigators said. A fourth child had been returned to her biological father during an earlier malnutrition case in Virginia, court records show.

[hlthe2b]

1. I hope this is a truly rare phenomenon--this level of obsession

But, I fear it is not.

for those poor children.

[jmbar2]

2. They do it to their pets as well.

So much for wellness.

[Hortensis]

3. It is rare, HL. It's extremely abnormal for parents, "vegans" no exception!,

to starve their children to death. There's something really, tragically wrong with these two.

Poor, poor baby. Don't know if life in prison for the mother is an appropriate sentence, but at least she won't be having children, or even pets, in her care.

[werdna]

4. To be clear -

- this should not be made into an indictment on Vegan diets for infants and children. The consensus is that a Vegan diet is perfectly safe for infants and children if the guidelines for their nutrition needs are adhered to. No this is an indictment of ignorant parents neglecting their children.