South Dakota woman sentenced in 1981 death of infant son

[TexasTowelie]

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — A South Dakota judge on Thursday sentenced a woman to 10 years in the state prison system for her infant son's 1981 death that went unsolved for decades.

Judge Bradley Zell called the sentencing of 60-year-old Theresa Bentaas a difficult decision that he belabored for weeks, in part because it was not clear whether her son died from complications during birth or abandonment in the South Dakota cold. Zell suspended nine years of the sentence, meaning Bentaas will likely spend two months in state prison and serve the rest of her time under community supervision.

“This is a terribly sad and difficult human event which now needs to be brought to conclusion,” Zell said, acknowledging that the sentence was likely a bitter pill for both Bentaas' family that had begged for her to go free and community members who had pressed for a strict punishment.

Bentaas had entered an “Alford plea” to a first-degree manslaughter charge, meaning that she maintained her innocence but agreed to be sentenced as convicted guilty. Prosecutors dropped first- and second-degree murder charges in the plea deal.

Read more: https://bismarcktribune.com/news/state-and-regional/crime-and-courts/south-dakota-woman-sentenced-in-1981-death-of-infant-son/article_13edbb15-7a3d-5144-b5cc-641b893226ce.html

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. Such a sad happening, for everyone involved. ♥

[Farmer-Rick]

2. Not so sure that woman knew what was happening when she gave birth

According to the psychiatrist, she had pregnancy denial syndrome. So she had no idea she was giving birth. She was a 20 year old unwed woman in 1981. She would have been shunned and disgraced for being pregnant. And of course...... abortions were illegal.

She was as much a victim as was that poor baby. And the evidence is Not clear if the baby was born already dead or alive. I'm glad she only has months to serve in jail but I'm pretty sure justice was Not served.

[TexasTowelie]

3. I agree that the circumstances were unusual and I sympathize with the woman.

One thing that has me curious though is why you stated that abortion was illegal in 1981. Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973 and while South Dakota may have adopted some limitations, I don't believe that abortion was illegal there at the time of her pregnancy or that it would have mattered since she was in denial of her pregnancy.

[Farmer-Rick]

4. Yeah, at least in MD it was available by 1977

But not in many other states.

Here is probably why they indicated abortion was not available...at least in South Dakota:

"In 1981, Dr. Buck Williams started offering abortion services at his Sioux Falls clinic. At the time, he was the only abortion service provider in the state. In 1989, he approached Planned Parenthood about taking over his clinic. At the time, Planned Parenthood had no operations in South Dakota."

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abortion_in_South_Dakota#:~:text=The%20state%20was%20one%20of,abortion%2Dspecific%20informed%20consent%20requirement.

If she had not had that syndrome, maybe she could have made efforts to get an abortion out of state or with Dr. Williams. But it's wasn't as if Planned Parenthood even provided abortions back then.