The Osaka District Court on Monday acquitted a 35-year-old mother of charges of habitual assault and fraud after she was accused of hospitalizing her daughter, then age 8, by not feeding her properly for mutual aid money.
However, presiding Judge Kunitaka Iwasaki found Kasumi Nawata guilty of attempted coercion, sentencing her to six months in prison, suspended for two years.
The prosecution had sought a prison term of 42 months. The defense denied all charges and pleaded not guilty.
The judge dismissed the daughter's testimony that she had not been fed for several days, saying that she was confused and had errors in memory.
"It's unnatural that she did not eat bread or other foods that were available at home," he said, acquitting Nawata of charges of habitual assault.
Iwasaki also acquitted her of fraud charges, saying that the mother "didn't intentionally put the daughter into a state of hypoglycemia."
The judge found Nawata guilty of attempted coercion, acknowledging that the mother repeatedly sent mobile messages telling the daughter not to eat while in hospital.
Nawata had been accused of defrauding a mutual aid association of ¥140,000 in benefits by not feeding her daughter enough food and giving her a laxative, which led to the child's hospitalization for hypoglycemia, in January 2023. The mother had also been charged with sending the mobile messages in February that year.
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