In 2014, a 7-month-old infant died from malnourishment after his parents gave him only vegan milk, the Daily Mail reports. Now, his parents are facing jail time.
The baby’s parents, identified as Peter S., 34, and Sandrina V., 30, run a health food store in Beveren, Belgium. The couple believed their son suffered from food allergies despite an absence of a professional diagnosis, according to prosecutors. Peter and Sandrina allegedly put their son on an alternative diet including various types of vegan milk.
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“The parents determined their own diagnosis that their child was gluten intolerant and had a lactose allergy,” a prosecutor alleged. “Not a single doctor had a dossier about Lucas and child protection services did not know about them.”
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The Independent reports that the infant weighed just nine pounds when he died, according to local media. Before his death, his parents reportedly never sought medical attention despite the infant gasping for air days before he passed. An autopsy showed that the baby was severely dehydrated and had a completely empty stomach.
Prosecutors are seeking an 18-month prison sentence for the infant’s parents, who they say drove across the country to a homeopathic doctor instead of taking their son to the hospital when he was starving.
“We never went with Lucas to a doctor because we never noticed anything unusual,” the baby’s father said.
Added Sandrina, “Sometimes he gained a little weight, sometimes he lost a little. We never wished for the death of our son.”
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