Religious couple jailed for 5 years for son's manslaughter

11.00am - UPDATE

The Dargaville couple convicted of killing their infant son by failing to properly look after him have each been jailed for five years.

Roby Jan Moorhead, 45, and his wife Deborah Anne Moorhead, 34, stood impassively in the dock at the High Court in Auckland today as Judge Rhys Harrison told them their failure to supply medical treatment for their desperately ill son Caleb was inexcusable.

He said they had known for two months Caleb was desperately ill and was deteriorating under their regime of self-treatment.

The Moorheads had been found guilty by a jury of the manslaughter of their six-month-old son Caleb by failing to provide the necessaries of life.

Caleb died in March last year from broncho-pneumonia associated with anaemia and brain damage caused by vitamin B12 deficiency.

During the sentencing the couple each held a Bible and showed no emotion at all, politely declining the judge when he asked if they wanted to say anything in their defence.

Judge Harrison said the couple's decision to ignore forceful advice that Caleb needed urgent medical treatment "defies rational belief."

Their actions were at the extreme end on the scale of gross negligence.

"You were reckless with his life."

As he sentenced them to five years in prison each, the Moorheads both briefly nodded to the judge, picked up their Bibles and walked from the court.

Mrs Moorhead is six months' pregnant and the judge said he would direct that his sentencing notes be made available to the appropriate authorities. However, he said he was satisfied the authorities would know of her uncompromising attitude and that her new baby would not suffer Caleb's fate.

A spokesman for Child, Youth and Family, Stephen Ward, this afternoon said if it cannot be assured a child will be safe in its parent's care, CYFS is able to seek a court order allowing the unborn child to be taken into care after it is born.

"Bearing in mind the over-riding need to ensure child safety, we always try to place a child with a relative if we have to take them into care in such circumstances," he said.

Child, Youth and Family has a network of caregivers available if a family placement is not appropriate.

The court heard the Moorheads were devout Seventh Day Adventists who followed a strict vegan regime, refusing to eat meat, dairy products or fish.

They refused to allow doctors at Starship Children's Hospital in Auckland to treat Caleb after he was taken there. Despite the protestations of doctors, and a nurse who followed the couple out of the hospital and told them Caleb would probably die without treatment, they took him into hiding.

They had earlier told doctors they would put their faith in God and herbal remedies rather than conventional medicine.

Caleb died two weeks after his parents fled from the hospital.

The trial heard from a paediatrician Caleb could have been saved up to half an hour before he died if he had been given an injection of vitamin B12.

The baby's death fuelled a debate about whether doctors and medical authorities should be given increased powers to stop parents from taking sick children away and deny them medical treatment when they were desperately ill.

The Medical Association said doctors could apply to the courts to intervene but that took time and did not cover urgent cases where doctors needed to intervene immediately to save a child's life.

The association said some doctors would now probably be prepared to break the law by physically stopping parents from leaving with their children.

After the guilty verdicts police said Caleb did not need to die. His death was totally avoidable, said Detective Sergeant Chris Scahill.

He said religious beliefs blinded the couple to the plight of their son and the verdicts sent a strong message to other similarly religious people to examine their beliefs in relation to medical care.

The Seventh Day Adventist Church said after the trial the Moorheads' beliefs which led to the death of their son were not taught or condoned by the church.

- NZPA