17 year old Australian girl starved by parents

[Bbq1]

I have just come across this really shocking case and can't quite believe it. Has anybody else seen it?it doesn't say the parents are mentally ill but they must be, surely. Sorry, can't link

I’ve not heard about it. Why can’t you link it?

Yeah. It’s very odd. Like some kind of munchousen’s-anorexia by proxy.

https://edition.cnn.com/2025/02/15/australia/australia-malnourished-girl-neglect-hnk-intl/index.html

Oh I’ve just read it. Dreadful. She was absolutely tiny so must have been starving her most of her life?

Thanks for the link. I'm hopeless at technology.

Poor woman, not just the food but the way she was treated as a child well into her early adult life. Now the trauma of her parents being in jail and although technically an adult, she's completely unprepared to live as an adult. I hope she now has access to suitable support as she would be incredibly vulnerable to future abusers.

Shocking that there was so little awareness of safeguarding at the dance school or from the piano teacher. Surely there should have been opportunities to flag this abuse up sooner?

That poor young woman.

They did. It's in the article.

They took her to the toilet, sat on her mother's knee, she was encouraged to watch Teletubbies etc. She's 20 now and apparently so psychologically damaged, she thinks she can't survive without her parents. It's so strange and disturbing. I hope that poor girl can eventually live a semi independent, adult life.

Ah, sorry, I haven't read the article. I heard about the story on the radio and they didn't mention that issues had been reported.

That is just so distressing to read.

As usual it’s difficult to find out the truth from the article. In the final few paragraphs the girls says her parents fed her well but she chose not to eat, it also says her parents are paying her university fees. So it sounds like the child had an untreated eating disorder, and managed to pass university entrance exams despite also watching telly tubbies her entire life.

Yeh except her parents told her if she followed the drs advice in the eating disorder clinic that she would get fat. And praised another’s patients thin figure. And basically refused any treatment for her eating disorder.

They sound like they don't have capacity but they must do if they've been sent to prison. They knew what they were doing as they pretended she was younger and didn't get medical advice when she didn't go through puberty.

If your daughter is nearly dead from an eating disorder, you get her treatment and give permission for treatment. It seems as though they were terrified she'd put on weight even if it would kill her.

It's a weird one! Doesn't add up... how did she get into uni if she was watching Teletubbies and never attended school?
Also, if it was a by-proxi-anorexia thing.. weird that 2 parents would be suffering from it.
Also, surely if she was going to dance lessons if she needed the bathroom her parents weren't taking her then....

Well, they were probably at the classes escorting her to abd from the bathroom. It's normal for some parents to stay at classes. Apparently, at the hospital besides trying to sabotage her weight gain, she was sitting on her mothers lap.
She was sadly a capable ballerina looking at the photos. A pianist too. It's such an unusual case. She must be bright enough but maybe they actually did homeschool her in an age appropriate way and she was abused more socially, obviously alongside the physical issues. The Uni thing is at odds with it all. I wonder how she is mentally though and if she was ever aware of her actual age. The judge mentioned that it was a Peter Pan thing - that the parents wanted to prevent their, "princess" from growing up.

She was 17 when she was hospitalised and put into state custody, and removed from her parent's influence. So I can see how in the course of 3 years she could have completed an access course or some kind of qualification that allowed her to access university. She could be doing a foundation year or similar. I don't think it's inexplicable that she's now at uni. There's no hint of any suggestion of an intellectual impairment.