No charges against strictly religious Geelong parents after baby died severely malnourished

Police won’t charge the strictly religious parents of a newborn baby boy who died severely malnourished in their Geelong home because the couple believed their faith – not the medical system – would save him.

Police won’t charge the parents of a baby boy who died severely malnourished.

Police won’t charge the strictly religious parents of a newborn baby who died severely malnourished because his parents believed their faith – not the medical system – would save him despite signs he was dying.

The two-and-a-half week old boy, born in a home “free birth” with no medical assistance, was not taken to hospital despite appearing “blue in colour”, weak and drastically underweight in the days leading to his death in the Geelong suburb of Hamlyn Heights on January 17, 2022.

That morning, as the newborn, known as Baby A, lay motionless, purple and not breathing in his young parents’ bed, they made the decision not to call an ambulance because they had “faith” that their son would not die.

Three hours earlier, the father acknowledged the baby was having difficulty breathing but the parents, aged in their 20s, chose not to get help and instead lay in bed and “prayed over” him.

The parents had “faith” their son would not die. Stock image.

The shocking case was investigated by State Coroner Judge John Cain, who found the parents held strong religious beliefs during pregnancy and their son’s short life, his weight rapidly dropped from a healthy 4kg at birth to 2.87kg at death.

“The mother and father did not seek any medical care throughout the pregnancy, and explained that they did research online, in books and listened to testimonies,” Judge Cain found.

“They decided that they “wanted to live by faith in [their] pregnancy” and therefore wanted to have a birth that was as natural as possible with no invasive procedures.”

Forensic Pathologist Dr Gregory Young from the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine found the boy died of pneumonia in the setting of malnutrition, which caused “widespread Alzheimer type II astrocytosis” to his brain.

The baby’s skin was dry and wrinkled due to dehydration, with no evidence of milk in his stomach.

The coronial report stated the first time the mother recalled breastfeeding her son was the morning after his unassisted home birth at 4.03pm on December 29, 2021.

On the baby’s fifth day of life, the parents introduced a structured feeding and sleeping schedule, feeding him every three hours.

The two-and-a-half week old boy, born in a home “free birth” with no medical assistance, was not taken to hospital despite appearing “blue in colour. Stock image.

About 11 January, 2022, the boy was described by his mother as skinny and blue in colour and a decision was made four days later to switch him to formula – but he continued to grow weaker and smaller.

“She noted that ‘he was not moving his arms around as much as he previously had and he appeared to have lost a bit of weight from all over his body’,” the coroner’s report read.

The parents had to be convinced by family members to call police after the death of their son, whose birth was never registered with Births, Deaths and Marriages.

Authorities were notified about 13 hours after the parents abandoned performing CPR, dressed their son in new clothes and made plans to bury him.

Police investigated the boy’s death, deciding no criminal charges would be laid against his parents as “no criminality was detected”.

“Geelong Crime Investigation Unit detectives prepared a report for the coroner following the death of a baby in Hamlyn Heights on 17 January 2022. An investigation was conducted and it was determined that no criminality was detected,” Victoria Police said in a statement.

Judge Cain said the case was a “timely reminder for parents who choose to embark on a ‘free birth’ or home birth without medical assistance or intervention”.

“Whilst I cannot determine that Baby A’s death was preventable, there may have been some benefit from specialist maternity or medical support,” Judge Cain said.

“It appears likely that the earlier the medical attention was sought, the higher the likelihood that Baby A would have recovered and survived.”