OTTAWA MOTHER – OK
A mother who suffocated her newborn baby in an apparent state of panic and confusion seconds after his birth has been sentenced to 18 months of house arrest as part of a conditional sentence.
Angela Kuehl, who admitted to tying a plastic bag around the baby’s head before dumping his body in a garbage can, cried as Ontario Superior Court Justice Lynn Ratushny handed down a conditional sentence of two years less a day, which included 18 months of house arrest, 200 hours of community service and a $1,000 donation to the Children’s Wish Foundation.
In her sentencing decision, Ratushny said she accepted that Kuehl, who pleaded guilty to infanticide in February, did not plan to kill the child.
The killing only occurred, Ratushny said, after the then-25-year-old was forced to face the "reality" of a baby after long denying her pregnancy and seven hours of "pain and fear and complex physiological and mental changes beyond her control."
Ratushny said the "absolute impulsiveness" of placing a bag over the baby’s head, and then removing it – albeit too late – in the midst of her "panicked and confused state" right after his birth was another important mitigating factor.
"As difficult as it is to understand how she could kill her baby and as impossible as it is to condone what she did, I accept that her moral culpability at the time was diminished by her mental state," the judge said.
Ottawa Citizen
Wow. That’s such a shame. Whatever her sentence I hope she gets some counseling. I would have mandated THAT instead of the crummy $1000 donation.
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“Did not mean to kill her baby”? Just what did she think would happen if she put a plastic bag over the baby’s head?????? People make me sick.
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such a sad situation! Post natal depression could lead to a panic attack like that I guess. How tragic!!!! I hope she gets some counselling. hugs p
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Insane evil possessed? I don’t know.
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RYN ROTFL Are you nuts?! I am in FL in the summertime. Do you know what the temp is like here? If it isn’t sweltering it is raining, if it isn’t raining it is sweltering!
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this kind of thing will be happening more and more sad to say
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Gee, I would hate to be murdered due to someone’s impulsiveness. Lawyer trying to make it sound like it wasn’t murder. Just for the record, that is a murder. Okay, also, “community service” >>>>, yikes, what if she winds up in a day care center or hospital doing community service? I would want more details on exactly what kind of community service she would be doing. I think this, since she used a garbage bag, then her community service should be cleaning up garbage or cleaning up toilets. Those are just my opinions, that’s all. YES, she needs help and counseling, and in between all that — cleaning garbage.
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This is something she’s going to have to live with for the rest of her life… and she’s young.
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I had PPD after my fourth was born and let me tell you, it changes how you think. I do not condone what has happened but know that she needs help in a big way. Thnak the Lord, I had help but I understand about panic attacks as never before. It is a miserable existence, believe me. The worst time of my life and it has made me forget a lot of his infancy to boot. Not a good time.
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