http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19766590/
Police: Babies starved while parents gamed
Couple accused of neglecting young children to surf Web, play video
games
Updated: 1 hour, 8 minutes ago
RENO, Nev. - {AP} A couple authorities say were so obsessed with the
Internet and video games that they left their babies starving and
suffering other health problems have pleaded guilty to child neglect.
The children of Michael and Iana Straw, a boy age 22 months and a girl
age 11 months, were severely malnourished and near death last month when
doctors saw them after social workers took them to a hospital,
authorities said. Both children are doing well and gaining weight in
foster care, prosecutor Kelli Ann Viloria told the Reno Gazette-Journal.
Michael Straw, 25, and Iana Straw, 23, pleaded guilty Friday to two
counts each of child neglect. Each faces a maximum 12-year prison
sentence.
Viloria said the Reno couple were too distracted by online video games,
mainly the fantasy role-playing “Dungeons & Dragons” series, to give
their children proper care.
“They had food; they just chose not to give it to their kids because
they were too busy playing video games,” Viloria told the Reno
Gazette-Journal.
Children injured, malnourished
Police said hospital staff had to shave the head of the girl because her
hair was matted with cat urine. The 10-pound girl also had a mouth
infection, dry skin and severe dehydration.
Her brother had to be treated for starvation and a genital infection.
His lack of muscle development caused him difficulty in walking,
investigators said.
The Straws have been given public defenders. Jeremy Bosler, head of the
county public defender’s office, declined to comment to The Associated
Press on Saturday.
Michael Straw is an unemployed cashier, and his wife worked for a
temporary staffing agency doing warehouse work, according to court
records. He received a $50,000 inheritance that he spent on computer
equipment and a large plasma television, authorities said.
AMA ponders gaming addiction
While child abuse because of drug addiction is common, abuse rooted in
video game addiction is rare, Viloria said.
Last month, experts at an American Medical Association meeting backed
away from a proposal to designate video game addiction as a mental
disorder, saying it had to be studied further. Some said the issue is
like alcoholism, while others said there was no concrete evidence it’s a
psychological disease.
Patrick Killen, spokesman for Nevada Child Abuse Prevention, said video
game addiction’s correlation to child abuse is “a new spin on an old
problem.”
“As we become more technologically advanced, there’s more distractions,”
Killen said. “It’s easy for someone to get addicted to something and
neglect their children. Whether it’s video games or meth, it’s a serious
issue, and (we) need to become more aware of it.”
--
Atheist n A person to be pitied in that he is
unable to believe things for which there is
no evidence, and who has thus deprived himself of
a convenient means of feeling superior to others.
—Chaz Bufe, The American Heretic’s Dictionary
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