Couple gets suspended sentence for starving son to death

A Belgian couple who believed in “alternative” diets starved their infant son to death. They will not serve a day in jail.

Thirty-four-year-old Peter S and 30-year-old Sandrina V own a health-food store near Antwerp, Belgium.

They are committed to what they consider to be “clean, healthy” eating. This means eschewing gluten, meat, and dairy foods.

While this diet might suit some adults, it proved fatally inadequate for their 7-month-old son, Lucas.

Lucas died of malnutrition and dehydration. He weighed only 9.5 pounds, only 2 pounds more than he had at birth.

His father said he never thought to bring Lucas to a doctor because he never noticed anything unusual.

When the child’s health completely collapsed just before he died, his parents drove him across the country to a homeopathic doctor, passing many hospitals on the way.

Lucas was pronounced dead on June 6, 2014. In the intervening years the case has become a cause célèbre among health-food supporters.

The couple eventually received a six-month sentence—suspended. Even if they had had to serve jail time, this was the absolute least the judge could allot. Because the judge suspended  the sentence, the couple will never have to go to jail at all.

The judge used the rationale that the family had already suffered enough.

“It is clear that the defendants have already been severely punished because they need to proceed with life in the knowledge that they are responsible for the death of their son, who they truly love,” said Judge Mieke Butstraen. “That is why a minimum prison sentence of six months is adequate.”

The couple has two other children.