Chiba parents arrested for allowing child to starve to death

Adults who abuse kids are scum and they deserve the same thing done to them.

What goes through their heads doing that to such a small child?

I can never understand how any one could do/let this happen to their children, these people are not even wild animals , they are less. Shoot them and make them pay for the bullets. LOWEST FORM OF LIFE !!

Reformed

What goes through their heads doing that to such a small child?

Nothing... I have a very good idea of what SHOULD go (or pass) through their head as a punishment though... This kind of people, with such heavy lack of compassion for a fellow human being (never mind it being their own offspring), are better removed for good from the society. Society itself benefits nothing from keeping such monsters alive and feeding them in a prison, only to release them some years later.

The proper sentence here would be death by starvation.

My 4 month old weighs more than that. Failing to provide for a child who depends on them absolutely is just disgusting.

Poverty, lack of education, improper or zero sexual education to avoid pregnancy, etc. Little wonder when a new unwanted (dead) generation is born, not all of them will survive or not even will reach the adult age.

Some of them will kill their parents in their ten-age and will wish they had never had to be born to this word. Poor kids, poor unwanted future-less generation. Heartbreaking indeed.

Babies are not born with instructions manuals attached. Its hard to tell what they knew and what they didn't. I sure cannot tell you anything about what is the proper weight for a child that age or how much they should be eating.

I think there is a good case that they might just be ignorant and lazy. Its hard to tell. But Captain Hindsight and his merry band will surely tell us all, exactly as it happened.

Aoshi, for around 2 1/2 years. At the time of his death, when he was two years and 10 months old, police say the boy weighed just 5.8 kilograms, around half that of an average child of his age.

How horrible must have been to be born into this world with these 2 SUBHUMANS for parents. There are no words to describe my feelings other than to wish the worse in this life to these 2 ABOMINATIONS. But this is Japan and they won't get the punishment they truly deserve, other than a typical suspended sentence in the worst case scenario (some people even get acquitted after claiming some mental illness!). If we get lucky with a more "humane" Judge, these "animals" may get 4~6 years in Prison. (no guarantees!) But DO NOT expect 10~20 years for this horrendous crime, because it won't happen. Killing your own children in Japan does not warrant a heavy sentence. That's the way it is. Sad but true~

Rest in Peace little angel, at least you won't be in pain anymore -_-;;

Serrano - hear hear.

More to this story from the Japanese news, none of which in any way exonerates the parents (an unemployed 39 year-old man and his part-timer wife). Upon autopsy the boy was found to have numerous pieces of plastic and other debris in his stomach, indicating he'd been putting whatever was lying around in his mouth, out of extreme hunger. And the "father" (I hesitate to even give him the benefit of the title) was quoted as saying "We'd had a cat from before we had the boy, so naturally taking care of the cat was our first priority."

Sigh

There are no words...

I hope their 5 year old daughter is OK.

More to this story from the Japanese news, none of which in any way exonerates the parents (an unemployed 39 year-old man and his part-timer wife). Upon autopsy the boy was found to have numerous pieces of plastic and other debris in his stomach, indicating he'd been putting whatever was lying around in his mouth, out of extreme hunger. And the "father" (I hesitate to even give him the benefit of the title) was quoted as saying "We'd had a cat from before we had the boy, so naturally taking care of the cat was our first priority."

Reading this makes me wanna puke..... These two "people" weren't human after all, they were just pure SMEGMA!

The five year-old daughter weighed only 8 kilos at the time the parents were arrested. She'd already been malnourished at the time the "mother" was pregnant with the younger boy, and the local welfare department had the younger boy on their watch list from shortly after his birth because the mother made only two of her 14 scheduled prenatal exams. Six days after his birth, someone from the Kashiwa municipal government made a home visit, but were refused entry by the father. Child welfare office representatives made several follow-up visits in the weeks following the birth, but were unable to gain access to the child. No action was taken in the roughly two years that followed.

The stronger laws in place now, had they been on the books then, might have enabled the officials to force the parents to cooperate, but too late for this little one... :-(

It's ironic. I've met young married couples couples in Japan who don't have immediate plans to have kids or never , and yet they have all the qualities of good parents. At the other end of the spectrum, I see immature stupid couples with toddlers and kindergarteners on the sidewalk and at the shops. It feels like Japan's past sins have caught up and will destroy every shred of decency this nation holds dear.

@shirokuma

Thank You for following this case, honey....however, because of the gruesome nature of these unspeakable "atrocities" against these 2 children, I'm starting to feel overwhelmed by rage. I can't even picture in my mind the 2 y.o. going around the house feeding off whatever stuff lying on the floor... Arrgh!! and his sister...5 years of daily torment and suffering??

Child welfare office representatives made several follow-up visits in the weeks following the birth, but were unable to gain access to the child. No action was taken in the roughly two years that followed.

Yeah, once they were restricted from entering the house, they thought to themselves: まぁ、しょうがないねぇ、お疲れ様～ What else can you expect? Child protection laws are weak in this country. Shameless as usual~

BlueWitchAug. 10, 2011 - 06:30PM JST

Child protection laws are weak in this country. Shameless as usual~

We won't have paradise for stronger laws. This case plus even a few others I remember does not make a case for following the examples of others. Only statistics can do that, by statistics, I mean actual numbers and not some random "expert" opinion about the statistics.

mimitchyAug. 10, 2011 - 06:21PM JST

It feels like Japan's past sins have caught up and will destroy every shred of decency this nation holds dear

That is an odd statement considering the postive statement you opened with. Again, this case and few others does mean Japan is going to hell in a handbasket.

.

The proper sentence here would be death by starvation.

I'm afraid I have to agree. I'm sorry but I have no compassion for parents who slowly and deliberately torture their children to death.

What a pity the parents didnt take care of thier reproductive organs surgicly and carry on rearing cats instead.What they did is horrific,I wish thier punishment fits the crime

it is horrific and tragic...but how does murdering the parents do anything but satisfy our own bloodlust? That is not the civilised way to treat these people. As better men and women we need to understand why they committed this betrayal, seek to prevent it from happening again - and keep them away from the rest of society. An eye for an eye is just childish and pointless.

Given the total ignorance with which the "Mother" and "Father" (and I hesitate to use those terms too) have conducted themselves, its a miracle their children survived as long as they did.

Hideous, horrible, and as much as I understand nec123a`s points that an eye for an eye is childish, it somehow just seems so appropriate for people like this. Why should they get away with it?

Mean to add: were there no grandparents, extended family, anyone who noticed what was going on?

Its a natural reaction due to the cruelty and suffering these parents inflicted upon a defenceless child to react towards the perpertrators with loathing and anger. Bloodlust doesnt come into the prognosis, empathy for the victim is the fuel. The little one ceases to be the product of his sadistic parents, he becomes the child we all wish we could have protected.

Its a natural reaction due to the cruelty and suffering these parents inflicted upon a defenceless child to react towards the perpertrators with loathing and anger. Bloodlust doesnt come into the prognosis, empathy for the victim is the fuel. The little one ceases to be the product of his sadistic parents, he becomes the child we all wish we could have protected.

Well said, honey!!!

"His wife Satomi has reportedly told police that the couple allowed the boy to starve."

Awww, how kind! They gave a 2.5 year old the choice to die by starvation. What a brave and wonderful parenting process. While I do not honestly believe an eye for an eye solves anything, I kind of want it for these worthless scum. Put them in prison, for life, and make the food just a wee bit non-existent from time to time.

Nicky WashidaAug. 10, 2011 - 08:34PM JST

were there no grandparents, extended family, anyone who noticed what was going on?

Obviously not. I know what you're getting at, but not everyone is brought up in that type of environment. Not that I codone this at all, just saying.

Jail time seems mild. Perhaps letting the jail's occupancy know that these two considered their cat a higher priority to their child would help toughen the sentence. I'm sure there are enough convicts there who are missing their children growing up, that they would endeavor to "re-educate" these two on their priorities.

From Japanese news media : Soshi's parents have had three other children. Their third daughter passed away from an illness in August 2007 at the age of 3 months, while their second daughter, 5, was ordered hospitalized for malnutrition. She weighed eight kilograms at the time -

Babies are not born with instructions manuals attached. Its hard to tell what they knew and what they didn't. I sure cannot tell you anything about what is the proper weight for a child that age or how much they should be eating.

I couldn't tell you how much a 2.5 year old should weigh either, but at 5.8kg he would have had to be absolutely skeletal (as I said above, my 4 month old baby weighs more than that, and he isn't even particularly chunky) and have cried almost constantly when he wasn't semi-unconscious from hypoglycaemia- even the most uninformed parent would do better than this couple did. I don't think ignorance is the reason here, I think they wilfully neglected their kids and knew exactly what they were doing.

The fact that she didn't attend the prenatal visits shows right from the beginning that they didn't care about the poor little boy.

That is not the civilised way to treat these people

I think they lost the privilege to be treated like civilised people when they decided to starve their child to death. I don't think starving the parents to to death as punishment is "murder", it is justice.

It's so sad to think of these poor children and how they must have been (barely) living. There seems to be a disturbingly large number of these kinds of cases where children are abused and neglected. Why is the law so lenient on the perpetrators?

There is still a mindset among some in Japan that the child is the property of the parents. Not enough protection is in place to ensure children are safe. Social services have a lack of powers, adoption is very hard and what about foster care? We must make sure the children, our future are safe.

A thorough investigation is needed and lesson learned. The parents must be punished harshly and not allowed out until they are reformed.

Oh yes, we have every right to get mad about these parents (they do not have to do something to deserve that title,they have born the child,so they are its parents), because we know all the details about them, and we would have done far better better than they! I also get mad, blue witch, but rather about all the judging of people we do not know. That is so easy, and it will not change anything! I could imagine that at least the mother had an eating disorder, which is common among lots of young people.

Both of these parents sound horrible. How about not feeding them for a few days and keep them barely alive for the next 20 years say up in Hokkaido in the middle of winter and back to Maebashi?? Gunma?? Really hot and humid place during the summers to teach them a good lesson! RIP little boy born to stupid, horrible parents out in Chiba.

I cannot think of a punishment suitable for these evil parents. Everything I think of is too lenient.

Forgive the parents and send them out on a 30 year work patrol chain gang...at Fukushima

...speechless...

@ sojherde

because we know all the details about them, and we would have done far better better than they!

The fact is they deliberately starved one of their children to death. Another fact is their other child was found severely malnourished, and it is reasonable to assume that if there was no intervention she would have met the same fate. Their third child died a few months after birth, and given this family's history I think the death is rather fishy.

So, yes, I can boldly proclaim that I could, can and will do far better than they at raising kids - as would no doubt 98% of the population.

I also get mad, blue witch, but rather about all the judging of people we do not know

And I get mad at people who want to give people like this the benefit of the doubt.

I could imagine that at least the mother had an eating disorder, which is common among lots of young people.

That's just wild speculation. In any case I know women who have eating disorders and have managed not to starve their children to death even while starving themselves, so no excuse. I saw the father on TV- he looked well fed. They didn't attend prenatal visits and apparently blocked the public health nurse (all babies in Japan are visited by a nurse at home at least once) from visiting.

And yes, I definitely feel that I could have done a better job. This is Japan, not a famine-stricken African nation. There is no excuse for a 2.5 year old to weigh the same as a 3 month old baby and then die of starvation, no excuse whatsoever.

It is articles like this that spoil my morning. Why do monsters like this have a child in the first place.

We need studies on these sorts of people to find the root causes for incidences like this not just these sound-bite reports of it happening after the fact.

My guess is that it'll uncover a lot of unpleasant truths that are sure to discourage the results of such studies from seeing the light of day.

Sojherd:

I could imagine that at least the mother had an eating disorder, which is common among lots of young people.

And how do you deduce that, Einstein? Just irrelevant speculation, attempting to justify her evil behaviour.

These animals need to be executed. There is no place in society for child torturers and killers. May the poor little angel Rest in Peace - he is now in a far better place away from two evil monsters who made his life hell.

Jail time seems mild. Perhaps letting the jail's occupancy know that these two considered their cat a higher priority to their child would help toughen the sentence. I'm sure there are enough convicts there who are missing their children growing up, that they would endeavor to "re-educate" these two on their priorities.

Oh, make no mistake Fadamor: the other prisoners will ALL be made aware of what these monsters have done to a child. Happens in every prison in every country when there are outrageous abuses and murders of children- remember the wardens have children too.

These kinds of terrible acts unfortunately happen everywhere, in all societies. But it is really depressing that there seems to be no demand for a public inquiry or investigation into what went wrong with the social services who should have been able to intervene well before the tragic death of this kid. In Britain, for example, when similar cases have occurred, there have been public inquiries set up by the government, and these inquiries have investigated, made recommendations and in some cases radically changed things. Of course, bad things still happen, but at least there is a sense of something be done about it.

Arrested =/= Convicted. (And thankfully, finally, an in-custody confession is no longer enough evidence for a conviction)

The father said, "“It’s not like we did nothing for him.”" and blamed a disorder.

Now, IF that' really were the case, there would be plenty of evidence available from medical records for their defense. Imagine the number of hospital visits and rounds of tests you'd go through if your 2 year old were failing to thrive in such a dire way!

Several people are mentioning other children - I guess they've been watching more news sources. (And are better informed.)

"The fact is they deliberately starved one of their children to death."

OK, papasmurf, I'm one of those people who gives everyone the benefit of the doubt prior to a trial and conviction.

But you say you have facts. Could you please point us to them?

Thanks!

Mainichi says: Their 6 year old is healthy. 5 year-old has been hospitalized with malnutrition. Son had been seeing a doc regularly but they stopped taking him. His digestive tract was blocked with paper & plastic.

Now, had he ever been diagnosed with pica? Given the concerns about the weight and size of both the two younger kids, was social services monitoring the family?

I really, REALLY wish the laws could be tougher here in terms of usurping parental rights for the welfare of the children.