The father who tried to cure his 19-month-old son’s meningitis with maple syrup has been jailed for four months.
David Stephan, 33, will serve time in prison for his role in son Ezekiel’s death, while the boy’s mother Collet Stephan, 36, was sentenced to three months’ house arrest.
Justice Rodney Jerke said the Canadian couple had been “wilfully blind” to their son’s condition, failing to seek proper medical attention for his deadly infection, instead trying various unsuccessful “natural remedies”, including maple syrup and apple cider vinegar.
Ezekiel became ill in March 2012 and despite his condition quickly deteriorating his parents did not take him to see a doctor. He died shortly afterwards after two weeks battling the horrific disease.
The couple testified they believed Ezekiel had the flu.
They treated him with remedies that included hot peppers, garlic, onions and horseradish and a product from a naturopathic doctor aimed at boosting his immune system.
He eventually stopped breathing, and the couple called 911.
Ezekiel was rushed to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with bacterial meningitis and neurological dysfunction, according to the official death report by Dr. Jonathan Gamble.
Ezekiel was declared brain dead on March 18 and he was taken off life-support.
The judge said that while Mr and Mrs Stephan loved their son and were devastated by his death, they had not admitted their own personal failings were to blame.
“You have affected many people … your conduct has left an unerasable and chilling impact on all of us,” he said.
“This case was about whether parents, who failed to take a sick boy to a doctor, should be held criminally responsible. The trial was not about vaccination. This is far beyond a child who simply has the sniffles.”
Mr Stephan received a harsher sentence than his wife because of his tough and unrelenting “anti-vaxx” stance, which saw him complain his family was being unfairly targeted by the justice system because they were trying to tell the “truth” about vaccinations.
The judge also ordered the Stephans to take their other three children to the doctor at least once each year.
