SEATTLE – A Bellevue couple accused of starving their 6-week-old daughter pleaded guilty Tuesday to 3rd Degree Criminal Mistreatment.
Brittainy and Samuel Labberton could face up to a year in jail when they are sentenced by a King County judge July 23.
According to charging papers, Brittainy is accused of not feeding her daughter enough. Prosecutors allege the mother has said she didn't want her daughter to be fat, and the father believed the baby was underweight because she "spit up all the time." Court papers allege the young mother gave the infant a baby bottle with laxatives.
The couple initially pleaded not guilty. Brittainy denied the charge and said she just had a fussy baby who couldn't keep food down. The mother of two girls said she constantly took her young daughter to the doctor because she was worried.
"As a matter of fact my, daughter eats more than I do," Brittainy told KING 5 News back in January.
The baby was hospitalized at less than 2 months of age after failing to gain sufficient weight. Officials say she gained weight in the hospital and in a foster home.
Child Protective Services placed both of the Labbertons' girls into foster care in the fall of 2008.
