Parents Charged For Not Getting Diabetic Daughter to a Doctor

April 29, 2008

The Wisconsin couple who let their eleven-year-old diabetic daughter die instead of getting her medical help were charged today.

If convicted of second-degree reckless homicide in the death of Madeline, also known as Kara, each parent faces up to 25 years in prison. To see what happened, read more.
According to a CNN report:

Family and friends had urged Dale and Leilani Neumann to get help for their daughter, but the father considered the illness "a test of faith" and the mother never considered taking the girl to the doctor because she thought her daughter was under a "spiritual attack," the criminal complaint said.

Do you think the charges are justified?

15 Comments

vcastellanos16 5 years 3 weeks

Okay, granted they are without their daughter, but it was of their own doing. Had they got her medical attention, she would be here today. The parents absolutely should be punished. "Religious freedom" or not, a young girl is gone. Children need their parents to care for them, not harm them.

phatE 5 years 3 weeks

ok. yes, you can't change the outcome of their neglect. but neither can people who kill others, when did that become a reason to dismiss punishment for actions?

skigurl 5 years 3 weeks

this is shocking and sad, and they deserved what they got

runningesq 5 years 3 weeks

Lickity ... the line between the First Amendment and criminal activity can blur. For example, some Native Americans use peyote as part of their religious ceremonies, but that drug is illegal. It can be a tough call, but generally, the criminal statute often beats out the First Amend., ESPECIALLY in cases like this, where the religion doesn't 'exist' or is suspect

Trixie6 5 years 3 weeks

Definitely justified. I'm sure this little girl suffered horribly before she died. The idiot parents probably believe they didn't do anything wrong. They deserve to rot in prison for allowing their child to die in a way that could have been prevented by getting her medical attention.

j2e1n9 5 years 3 weeks

Um. Yes.

HipMom 5 years 3 weeks

Yes, yes, yes. I'm all for religious freedom and people using it as a smoke screen to justify harming innocent children is just not ok with me. I'm not one to run to the doctor myself, I don't really trust MDs here in the US. However when there is something I think warrants the attention of a doctor I go! Give me a break. I say the charges are totally justified.

mbrown81 5 years 3 weeks

This is just deplorable. At the point when she was showing signs of breathing difficulties an ambulance should have been called. It's just common sense.

megnmac 5 years 3 weeks

This is more than a bad decision, these people were told their child needed help and they chose not to get it. People who let children die to prove their faith cannot be allowed to parent. If someone had alerted CPS in time, the State could have taken the child and gotten her help and the parents would face child abuse as a worst case scenario. In this case, however, their actions caused a death. That is a homicide. There is a right to religious beliefs, but not to any actions.

aembry396 5 years 3 weeks

I agree lickety split....that is exactly what went through my mind. how can the state intervene retroactively....it just seems wasteful to punish parents for what seems like a bad decision to us....what good does jail do?

jopperma 5 years 3 weeks

The state can "jump in" legally just like it can in all other child neglect cases. They have the legal authority to prevent the death of innocent children at the hands of parents who fail to care for them properly. The freedom of religion issue in cases like this is actually pretty narrow legally, a court will consider more than just the parents' beliefs when they look at how the life of their child will be impacted by those choices.

lickety split 5 years 3 weeks

wasn't this an edisode on "house"? i don't know how the state can jump in legally (religious freedom) and yet the child is dead and you could argue negligent homicide. what good would jail do? the worst thing that can happen to a parent is that their child is harmed and that's already happened here.

MarinerMandy 5 years 3 weeks

Yes, yes, yes!!! Type 1 Diabetes will always be fatal without treatment. If you believe that it is okay to let your child die then you have no business having kids.

wingedkiare 5 years 3 weeks

The interesting thing about this was that I was fully expecting them to be part of a church that was against modern medicine, but it seems that those were the husband's personal beliefs - and not even something that was fully believed by the wife (who didn't believe her daughter was ill). The whole thing is just sad, and having read the story, this can't be anything other than recklessness on the parent's part. Especially since other members of their own church urged them to take her to a doctor.

faerymagick15 5 years 3 weeks

this one is just plain sad.

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