"Assistant State's Attorney Julie Drake said the sentence was compassionate but fair."

blockquotea href=”http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-national/20100421/US.Child.Slain.Cult/”A woman who starved her 1-year-old son to death/a at the behest of a religious cult leader was given a sentence Wednesday that won’t require her to serve any more jail time.br /br /Ria Ramkissoon, 23, pleaded guilty last year to child abuse resulting in the death of Javon Thompson. She admitted denying food and water to the 16-month-old child when he did not say “Amen” before a meal. Javon wasted away over the course of a week before his heart stopped beating.br /br /Baltimore Circuit Judge Timothy J. Doory suspended the balance of Ramkissoon’s 20-year sentence and ordered her to report to a residential treatment facility for young women. The treatment program includes Bible study, and Ramkissoon will be required to complete the program, which doesn’t have a specified length, before she can live on her own….br /br /Assistant State’s Attorney Julie Drake said the sentence was compassionate but fair.br /br /”The state has always seen her as something of a victim in this case,” Drake said.br /br /Doory reminded Ramkissoon that she would have to live with knowing she was partly responsible for Javon’s death, but added, “You were misled and did not do this with any ill will to your son.”/blockquotebr /br /Can you imagine the sentence if the defendant was a man and had starved span style=”font-style:italic;”his/span child to death? Would the judge feel all compassionate and think that a man could be brainwashed by a cult into killing his kid? Of course not.br /br /The judge recognized that this woman was responsible in part for killing her child but he (probably due to his chivalry) is letting her go? Sorry, but having to “live with knowing she was partly responsible” for this boy’s death is not the same as paying for it. A residential program for something this cruel? In terms of justice for this boy, it seems a bit cruel itself. (Thanks to Trey for emailing this story.)