Baby denied treatment until day after incident

Updated March 07, 2012 20:06:37


Cassidy Johnstone

Cassidy Johnstone will be sentenced in May.

A Perth man and woman have pleaded guilty to child neglect charges for failing to seek medical assistance for a child who has been left with permanent disabilities.

Amber Marie Minett, 27, and Cassidy James Johnstone, 25, had been due to stand trial in the District Court over their neglect of Minett’s eight-month-old baby in December 2010.

The couple were living together when the child, Levi Mippy, was injured in an unexplained incident.

He was not taken to hospital until the child’s paternal grandmother, Doris Mippy, saw him the next day.

Levi, now 22 months old, was left blind and a quadriplegic.

He also suffers five to seven seizures a day.

Ms Mippy is now Levi’s carer and says she hopes Minett and Johnstone are jailed.

“Anything they get is not going to compare to what he’s going through all the time,” she said.

“He will always be on medication for the rest of his life as a result of what his mother and Cassidy Johnstone done to him.

“I’m just relieved they’re going to be sentenced and he’s going to get justice.”

Investigating officer Sergeant Tony Walton says exactly what happened to the boy may never be known.

“In my 18 years, this is probably the most emotional case that I’ve worked on,” he said.

“It was difficult right from the word go when we got that phone call right up until now.”

Minett and Johnstone have been released on bail until they are sentenced in May.

The charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in jail.

Tags:

child-abuse,
law-crime-and-justice,
perth-6000

First posted March 07, 2012 15:18:43

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