Baby boy left 'unable to walk, talk or see' after vegan parents put him in sauna
A newborn baby boy has been left "unable to walk, talk, or see" after his vegan parents with extreme health views exposed him to extreme heat and ice baths.
Concern was raised after John Gonzalez, 38, and 45-year-old Jaqueline Navarro brought their poorly ten-month-old son to hospital suffering from seizures and brain damage, reports the Mirror.
'The baby was grey in colour, emaciated, and catatonic,' according to a statement from prosecutors. 'Emergency room doctors discovered the boy had extremely low blood sugar levels and suffered from hypoxia and constant seizures.'
The couple, who considered themselves "vegan mucus-free fruitarians", employed extreme practices and exposed him to "high temperature saunas and ice baths." Prosecutors said the parents "refused to feed the baby formula or breast milk because they believed it was toxic."
According to the district attorney's office in Orange County, "Gonzalez objected to many lifesaving treatments and told medical staff he believed that starvation would lead to healing."
The parents have been convicted of one felony count of child abuse and endangerment and one felony enhancement of causing great bodily injury to a child under five.
The victim's paternal grandmother, who alerted authorities multiple times about the condition of the boy, was awarded custody of the now five year old.
The Department of Child Welfare Services was found to have failed to protect the baby from malnourishment, which led to permanent brain damage and seizures. Tulare County had to pay $32 million to settle a lawsuit filed by his grandmother.
Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said: "This innocent child suffered from almost the first breath he took because of his parents' beliefs that starvation would cure him. Instead of curing him, they robbed him of his sight, his ability to take his first steps, to say his first words, and his chance to see the world through the eyes of a child who is seeing everything for the first time.
" Tragically, he will never get to experience any of those milestones because his parents starved him nearly to death instead of giving him the nourishment he so desperately needed."
Gonzalez and Navarro are being held without bail and will be sentenced July 25.
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