Defendant to serve three years' house arrest for abuse.
By JPOST.COM STAFFstarving mom 248.88(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimksi)
The Jerusalem mother who allegedly starved her child will not serve a prison sentence, according a plea bargain reached Thursday, which the defendant had long been reluctant to sign on advice from her rabbis.The deal was preceded by months of tumultuous negotiations between prosecutors and the defense, which had sought unsuccessfully to release the defendant from house arrest.Rabbi Avraham Froelich, with whom the mother had been staying since the case began, burst into the court and shouted for her not to admit anything she didn't do.The case caused uproar among haredim in Israel, culminating in violent demonstrations against the mother’s arrest.The Jerusalem District Court trial has entered the evidence phase, with testimony by the doctor who treated the child on his admittance to hospital. The doctor testified that the child underwent hundreds of unnecessary tests that caused him unnecessary suffering and health risks, until the doctors solved the mystery of his malnutrition symptoms, which disappeared after the mother was removed from his care.The mother has also been accused of removing a feeding tube connected to her child, making him scream with pain.RELATED:Gagorder on 'starving mother' case'Starving mother' trial begins
