Fwd: [SoFlaVegans] Couple plead for mercy in child malnutrition case

[Guest guest]

Greetings members:Note: forwarded message attached.Ronald A. Fells

N3VPU

Amateur Radio Operator

 

 

Couple plead for mercy in child malnutrition case

The parents of a 5-month-old baby who died after being on a diet of

raw foods plead with a judge for mercy over the neglect and

malnutrition of their four other children.

BY SUSANNAH A. NESMITH

snesmith

Fri, Dec. 16, 2005

 

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/13418990.htm

 

[Feedback:

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/contact_us/feedback/ ]

 

The Homestead parents who fed their children only raw foods

apologized in court Thursday, but maintained that the strict diet was

healthy despite the death of their 5-month-old baby.

 

''I love my children very much,'' Lamoy Andressohn said, choking back

tears. ``Everything I have done was for the best interest of my

children. I felt sure of what I was doing.''

 

Andressohn and her husband, Joseph Andressohn, were acquitted of

manslaughter charges in the malnutrition death of baby Woyah, but

convicted of neglecting their four older children. The couple were in

court Thursday to present evidence for Circuit Judge Stanford Blake

to consider before sentencing them.

 

Joseph Andressohn also apologized, saying: 'I never thought we'd be

here today because I was giving my kids a living foods' diet.''

 

He went on to defend the diet, which state experts said left all five

children severely malnourished.

 

''A vegan diet is very healthy, but it's not as healthy as a 100

percent raw foods diet, according to what I've read and according to

the way I feel,'' he said.

 

He said his goal is to be reunited with his children, now cared for

by an aunt.

 

One of the attorneys representing the surviving children urged the

judge to order the Andressohns to feed their kids a more substantial

diet, if and when the family is reunited.

 

''We believe that some type of nutritional monitoring is required,''

attorney Richard Hersch said, noting that the older children began to

gain weight after their diet was supplemented with soy milk.

 

Circuit Judge William Thomas, who is hearing the family court case,

has said he wants to reunite the family at some point in the future.

He denied a state petition to terminate the Andressohns' parental

rights.

 

The Andressohns' attorneys and the prosecutor spent much of the

daylong hearing bickering over points of law, even drawing Judge

Blake into a lengthy argument over the merits of TV news interviews.

 

Assistant State Attorney Herbert E. Walker III said he would ask

Blake to send the Andressohns to prison. According to state

sentencing guidelines, the couple could get between five and 20 years

in prison. Defense attorneys Ellis Rubin and Robert Barrar urged

Blake to give them a lighter sentence because they are remorseful.

 

Barrar also argued that his clients didn't know any better when they

failed to feed their children enough.

 

''Look, they may be stupid, judge, they may not be the smartest

people in the world, but they're not criminals,'' Barrar said.

 

Blake said he would sentence the Andressohns on Dec. 22.

 

Fidyl

Live Simply So That

Others May Simply Live

Yoga-With-Nancy/

SignSoFla/

SoFlaVegans/

SoFlaSchools/