Nevada couple blame Internet for child neglect
 

Nev. couple blame Internet for neglect

RENO, Nev. - 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.

Police said hospital staff had to shave the head of the girl because her hair was matted with cat urine. The 10-pound girl also had a mouth infection, dry skin and severe dehydration.

Her brother had to be treated for starvation and a genital infection. His lack of muscle development caused him difficulty in walking, investigators said.

The Straws have been given public defenders. Jeremy Bosler, head of the county public defender's office, declined to comment to The Associated Press on Saturday.

Michael Straw is an unemployed cashier, and his wife worked for a temporary staffing agency doing warehouse work, according to court records. He received a $50,000 inheritance that he spent on computer equipment and a large plasma television, authorities said.

While child abuse because of drug addiction is common, abuse rooted in video game addiction is rare, Viloria said.

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.

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."

"As we become more technologically advanced, there's more distractions," Killen said. "It's easy for someone to get addicted to something and neglect their children. Whether it's video games or meth, it's a serious issue, and (we) need to become more aware of it."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070716/...rnet_addiction

Throw away the key on these two.

Well isn't that just great.... :disgust:disgust:disgust

That's making me feel all twisted up and racist inside.. :(

They were playing second life wern't they?

racist?


Whats happening to this country?

Talk about a strong addiction. Fucking idiots.

What does race have to do with this?

I just want to lash out at everyone when I hear stuff like this. :Oh crap

Really makes you want to beat the shit out of them

ah but it is the fault of the evil internet

I heard the same, Thats unveliebable, xD But playing wow is better than taking care of children, come on! xD

You are an idiot.

apparently, their addiction did allow them to stop to have sex and give birth

they shouldn't deserve kids then....they should just go play all they want, and hopefully they will die in malnourishement cause they're too busy playing games...grrrr

That's a sad story.

Hopefully a decade without access to MMO's will teach them that there's more to life than the fantasy of their second lives... and give their children a chance to grow up.

I am sure they will have a ton of time to think about it in jail. I agree that it is a good thing that the kids will at least have a chance at a life now.

If there was never an internet they would blame TV addiction. If there wasn't any TV they'd blame something else other than themsleves. Funny I didn't hear how THEY were malnourished. Obviously they found time to feed themselves.

There's always those pesky patch days to catch up on your humping.

Dazybell
Mighty Mage

It reminds me of the fact that you have to have a license to drive a car but anybody can have a child!!!

Throw them both in jail and throw away the key.

That's awful! :disgust It's too bad anyone can get pregnant and have children!

Trust me..not just anyone can. I can't have kids ...yet she could..there you go.

ugh. i was actually thinking the same thing when i was reading this and how old the children were.

I blame World of Warcraft!!! I vote to abolish that game because it's destroying our families and ruining our country.

Damn, that sounds like a platform. I should get into the politics game, make some real money.

Michael Straw:
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm...did=904 87026

Iana Straw:
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm...dID=907 38735

damn... that's fucked up....

Hey, now... you need an awful lot of Ramen soup to keep up your strength to help your guild slay orcs... or something. Gotta keep your priorities straight.

Seriously, though... I caught that, too, when I read the article. It's a shame. What's comforting to me, though, is to know that when these folks hit prison and their fellow inmates find out that they're in there due to harming their own children (and trust me, the guards LOVE to let little facts like that accidently slip), they will be taken care of in an appropriate manner.

Woah, harsh. Iana has a whole diatribe about proper parenting on her Myspace profile. And the person who is her number one friend left this comment:

"I can never forgive what you did, you bastards deserved what you got for almost killing my nephew and niece this can never be forgiven... I hope your kids will look at you both later on in discussed and for this ill never see them again I will never forgive you... your dead to me."

Didn't seem to stop them from developing their MySpace pages, either.

:disgust

fucking sick sick sick bastards

this is one of those times where i wish we were more like china and only allowed 1 child per family and then only if you can pass a test and get a license

what the fuck ever happened to personal responsibility

fry these fuckers. there isn't enough space on earth anymore for the retarded.

once again...just 2 more people that should die...