French vegans charged in death of baby daughter

The parents of an 11-month-old girl who died from a Vitamin D deficiency are on trial for her death. The devout vegans fed their daughter only breast milk and she weighed less than six kilograms at the time of her death in 2008.

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Sergine Le Moaligou is seen in this undated photo courtesy of Georges Charri�res-le Courrier Picard

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CTV.ca News Staff

Date: Wed. Mar. 30 2011 11:02 PM ET

A vegan couple in France who fed their 11-month-old daughter only breast milk and appeared to ignore signs of her poor health are now on trial for the girl's death.

The couple, Sergine and Joel Le Moaligou, are strict vegans who chose to feed their daughter, Louise, no solid food, giving her only breast milk.

After Louise died in March 2008, a post-mortem exam showed the child weighed just 5.7 kg (12.5 pounds) when she should have weighed about 8 kg (17.5 lbs).

The cause of death was listed as a pneumonia-related illness. But the autopsy also revealed the child suffered from a severe deficiency of vitamins A and B12, which may have left her susceptible to infection.

The vitamin B12 deficiency could be linked to the mother's eating habits, since the only source of the vitamin is meat, dairy or vitamin supplements.

The couple reportedly did not follow their doctor's advice to take their daughter to hospital when they went for her nine-month checkup and found she was suffering from bronchitis and was losing weight.

The court has heard that the parents chose instead to treat her with cabbage poultices, mustard, camphor and clay.

The couple has been charged with "neglect or food deprivation followed by death" and face up to 30 years in prison if convicted. The trial is expected to last until Friday.

Comments are now closed for this story

lady o
said
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What a pain it must be to constantly wonder if you are eating enough to be healthy. Food is such a wonderful thing that brings together families, and makes you remember good times. The one thing a person always remembers from their childhood, and looks forward to every holiday, is their grandmas homemade recipes. How boring a thanksgiving dinner must be without a nice homecooked turkey and stuffing. I can't see how you could look forward to a bean casserole. Yuck! I further add that there are 2 types of iron, iron that is easily absorbed into your body found only in meats, and then the other type of iron, found in beans etc. that doesn't absorb as well.

Deb Skoretz
said
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As a meat-eating Seventh Day Adventist I am constantly surrounded by the vegan/vegetarian debate. Unfortunately, this case does sound more like someone who has made a religion out of eating. While I know many healthy vegans and vegetarians, unfortunately there are those who become so extreme in their views that they cannot be reasoned with. If this was the case, why did the medical doctor who examined this child at 9 months not intervene. I would suggest that some of it is the popularity of the vegan diet amongst medical professionals. It would be interesting to know the reason a doctor would not have done more for a helpless child and whether said doctor was also sympathetic to a vegan diet. In addition I do know that it is possible to become so fanatical about a vegan diet that certain foods and medications become a sin. When this happens and adults choose to exert that fanaticism upon young children, someone has to step in or there will be long term side effects and even death.

David in NB
said
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"As vegans they would have known about the need for vitamin B12 supplements. The fact that they chose to ignore it makes them responsible for the death of their daughter."To further your comment (which I gave a thumbs up), I would add that any "diet" that requires supplements should raise a flag that said diet is unnatural.I just feel so sorry for the late infant...

Mike vdB - Chatham, ON
said
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An unfortuneate story but amazing how quick people are to judge when they don't know all the facts of the situation. This is what a trial will determine and a judge and/or jury will decide. I love my meat just like the next guy but it doesn't mean I am better than a person who decides to not eat meat. We both have to consider all options for a balanced diet. We condemn on beliefs but parents force their beliefs on their children all the time. Maybe look in the mirror before you judge a couple who just lost a precious life.

Elias Nasrallah
said
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Ladies and Gents, I am sorry to say that the human race, since they set foot on this planet, have eaten meat and veggies. This is how it is. This is what the human body needs. Those of you who say you live a better life because you don't eat meat, you are not telling the truth. A nice steak with baked potato and mushrooms. Ain't nothing better than that!

Sidney PE
said
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Any person, regardless of age, can eat a healthy vegan diet. To say otherwise is uneducated at best, ignorant at worst. These parents were not following a balanced vegan diet. They were not having a balanced diet, and were exclusively breast feeding an infant that was at an age to need complimentary foods. Had they done those two things, there would have been no issue feeding themselves AND their baby a vegan diet.

george d
said
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Unfortunately this happened to a child in my neighborhood, the parents fed him a vegan diet that was well balanced, he got a rare bone disease that supposedly is becoming common in the western world, it usually happens in 3rd world African countries because of malnutrition.

Lynn
said
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It breaks my heart that parents would hold to an ideology that values animals more than their own flesh and blood.You're SO right,Mark from Victoria, I'm seconding it!

LIsa
said
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This case makes me sick. Tell me that the parents did not know that their child needed more than mustard and clay when she was so underweight and probably very, very ill. I hope they go away for a long, long time!!

Shauna from St. Paul, Alberta
said
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It's not the vegan diet that killed the baby. You can be a vegan AND be healthy, you just have to know what to eat. The same can be said for people (like myself) that eat meat. Meat eaters can be very unhealthy as well if they don't eat a balanced diet. Vegans can get the same vitamins/nutrients that people get eating meat; they just have to ensure that those things are in their diet and if they're not, that they take vitamins. The parents in this case failed because of that, not because they're vegan!

DanielSeliskar
said
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Darwinism at work, unfortunately.

Sam C
said
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Not to disrespect the death of the child, but what is "vegan" about breast milk? Adults are free to choose a vegan lifestyle, and as a few posters have noted, children can be raised on a vegan diet IF the parents are knowledgeable and careful to ensure the children's nutritional needs are met. This couple seem neither knowledgeable nor careful.

Elisa
said
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I just don't understand how individuals can be so hell-bent in their beliefs that they would ignore the advice of doctors and put their child's life at risk. This is not about a vegan lifestyle, it's about neglect. Hope they serve the max.

Lori Reeves
said
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I think most strict Vegans would limit their beliefs - it almost sounds like a religion - and not force them onto their under age children if it proved to be unhealthy. This couple obviously had issues beyond bad nutrition if they actually ignored Professional Medical advice !! Poor Little Soul !!

RF in Waterloo
said
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My kids got breast milk for 2 years each, but they got solids starting around 6 or 7 months. Even La Leache League recommends introducing solids around 6 months of age so that kids get the calories and nutrition they need. Breast milk is great stuff, but you can't live on it alone beyond the first few months of life. I eat meat so my milk would have contained more iron and B12 than this woman's. But even so, babies also need some solids to be healthy. This whole case is very sad for the baby. I have no sympathy for the parents--throw the book at them!

Fred
said
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Hopefully they are convicted. My wife foolishly followed a vegan diet for a few years before I met her and was on death's door to that diet. Her doctors told her to get off the vegan diet if she wanted to live. I don't care how many people tell you otherwise, eating lentils, nuts, etc do not give you enough of the nutrients you need to live. It effects your life forever after, changing your brain patterns.

ColinR
said
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This also just goes to show how ridiculous holistic medicine is. Covering your child in clay or cabbage or mustard won't cure it. Unfortunately, it takes cases like this where a tragedy occurs to get this message across.

ColinR
said
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What a tragedy. Those two forced a lifestyle on an infant, and then let the child die in order to adhere to their lifestyle. They should be fed salty meats and milk in prison for the next 30 years. Humans aren't built for veganism! if you're following a diet that requires you to take supplements or you DIE, there's a problem!

just awful
said
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i dont care if you're vegan or not, i dont think you should put that on your baby. when your child is old enough to understand they can make their own choice what they want to do. all these people that promote vegan diet, just dont think it is healthy, i know some will disagree but i have eaten meat always and i'm still here and heathy.

Jim in Ottawa
said
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And so they should be. Extremist political bias cannot trump the natural law of nutrition. These parents and their supporters should be ashamed of themselves.

DrC
said
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I hope that vegan parents take notice of this disaster. I believe a child should be fed what is recommended by standard pediatric guidelines. Let the child grow up. When they are old enough to make responsible decisions, let them choose whether they would like to be vegan or not. I am surprised that no authority stepped in and removed the child from the parents care. This case is no different than a couple deliberately starving their child as a form of punishment - child abuse.

Abdula
said
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You can easily live a vegan lifestyle and be very healthy. I am healthier now that I don't eat meat then when I was. I have more energy more muscle mass and am more alert. Those vegans that aren't healthy aren't paying enough attention to their diet. And There are way too many so called health professionals that failed medical school handing out advice because they think they know better. The disease here isn't vegans it's arrogance.

J from SK
said
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Don't jump too quickly to conclude that vegan diets are unhealthy. Raising a child vegan requires nutritional knowledge and supplements, but any good vegan parent is up to the task. These two are the exception to the rule, not the rule, as many omnivorous children also suffer from malnutrition due to poor parental diet.

Bart
said
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They be sent to prison and forced to only eat rotting meat.

Andy
said
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Throw them in jail and make an example of them. This will teach fanatics that if you kill your kids, which you did, you will suffer the consequences.You did not provide the necesseties of life, you made that poor child suffer for NO reason, even after a doctor told you to take her to a hospital.

Peter in niagara
said
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Whats wrong with people. Evan a monkey knows how to feed their babies.

Abdula from Kanata
said
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Sounds like a fair ruling I am not a strict vegan but I eat very little meat. If my Dr told me my child's life was at risk I would feed her something that would suppliment what I was giving her. They need this decision to show them what their arrogance did, it killed their child and they did it because they think they know better than everyone else what arrogance.

Leslie
said
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Wow is all I can say. I sure hope this baby girl was not in pain or suffering. Very sad.

Charles
said
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As vegans they would have known about the need for vitamin B12 supplements. The fact that they chose to ignore it makes them responsible for the death of their daughter.

sadie
said
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throw the book at them - the human body is NOT meant to live the lifestyle of vegans.... - never in my life have I seen a vegan that looks healthy - they always look pale - which means deficient in something ! Did the parents of this couple deprive them of proper foods when they were babies - no did this couple ignore educated specialists of baby nutrition yes. Did this little baby suffer unecessarily - yes did this little baby get denied the simple basics of care - yes You have to find balance - and a baby in their first few months of development needs basics that a vegan diet cannot and will not provide.-

Skollie
said
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A sad commentary on the tree-hugger way of life.

jeffincanada
said
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Too bad we can't make prospective parents pass a test before allowing them to reproduce!

Mark from Victoria
said
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It breaks my heart that parents would hold to an ideology that values animals more than their own flesh and blood.

dsm
said
0 0

the most terrible thing i have heard of and terrible is being kind. that poor baby never even got a chance at life.

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