Parents Neglected Children To Point of Starvation Playing Dungeons & Dragons Online

20th-level monsters:

A couple who 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.

...

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.

Pic of Dick Chick:

Surprisingly hittable. I mean, she's not going to be blackmailed in NJ by old Facebook photos anytime soon, and looks like a reject from the background dance-skanks in Love is a Battlefield, but still, better than we had a right to expect.

The Dude:

Not exactly what I expected, but he does look creepy.

From this account, which includes these charming details:

The girl, who when born weighed six pounds, was a mere 10 pounds. Medical staff said they had to hold the girl up because she was too weak to roll over or move on her own. She couldn't walk or hold her head up due to minimal muscle development.

A nurse had to wash her hair, which was matted with cat urine. The little baby was so dehydrated that when she cried, she produced no tears and only urinated after getting fluids via an IV. She had dirt under her nails and was not interested in eating. Doctors also discovered she had an infection in her mouth. A nurse also noted that she still had some sort of baby hair on her body that usually disappears by now in well nourished children.

Meanwhile, her brother was also malnourished, police said, and he had an infection on his genitals. Officials noted that his behavior was not typical of a 2-year-old and that he seemed to be slow-acting. He also had difficulty walking because of minimal muscle development.

Again thanks to Dan Riehl.

posted by Ace at 09:09 PM

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