Couple play computer games as children starve

Couple play computer games as children starve

By Tom Leonard in New York, Sunday Telegraph
Last Updated: 4:30pm BST 15/07/2007

An American couple who authorities say were so obsessed with playing games on the internet that they left their babies to starve have pleaded guilty to child neglect.

The children of Michael and Iana Straw, a 22-month-old boy and an 11-month-old girl, were severely malnourished and close to death last month when doctors examined them after social workers took them to a hospital in Reno, Nevada.

Police said hospital staff had to shave the head of the girl because her hair was matted with cat urine. She weighed just 10 lbs and was also suffering from a mouth infection, dry skin and severe dehydration. Her brother had to be treated for starvation and a genital infection, while his lack of muscle development caused him difficulty in walking.

Both children are doing well and gaining weight in foster care, said Kelli Ann Viloria, a public prosecutor.

Michael Straw, 25, and Iana Straw, 23, pleaded guilty to two counts each of child neglect. Each faces a maximum 12-year prison sentence. Prosecutors 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,” said Ms Viloria.

Straw is an unemployed cashier and his wife worked for a temporary staffing agency doing warehouse work. After inheriting $50,000 (£25,000), he spent the money on computer equipment and a large plasma screen television.

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 is 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”. In 2005, a Korean couple were accused of letting their four-month-old baby die while they went to play World of Warcraft, the world’s most popular online adventure game, at a local internet cafe.