Woman Addicted to Online Game Neglects Children and Leaves Bodies of Starved Dogs in Living for Two Months
A woman obsessed with the online game 'Small World' has been handed a six month suspended sentence and 75 hours of community service after she neglected her three children and allowed her two dogs to starve to death while she played the game for hours.
The woman, who was not named for legal reasons, was introduced to Small World by a friend on Facebook late last year. Though she started out only playing an hour per day, she quickly became addicted and the prosecution said her addiction escalated to the point where she was only getting two hours of sleep per night. Her three children, aged nine, 10 and 13, were neglected for six months before the authorities were contacted by a concerned neighbor.
According to the Daily Mail, a neighbor came to the children's rescue when she looked through the letterbox and saw the messy house. When police came to the house, the woman said her home was 'a bit of a mess' and though she allowed them through the rubbish-strewn house, she refused them access to the dining room. When asked why she wouldn't let them into the room, the woman replied:
"All right, my dogs are in there. They are dead. I killed them. I probably starved them, probably because I have been playing the computer game all the time."
The Daily Mail reports that the bodies of her German shepherd and lurcher were left rotting in the living room for two months. The woman is said to have admitted to only purchasing food that didn't need to be cooked, such as baked beans, and apart from feeding her children and getting them off to school, ignoring everything else.
The woman pleaded guilty to three counts of child cruelty and two of animal neglect and was sentenced to a six month suspended jail sentence and 75 hours of community service. Her children have been taken into care.
The woman's lawyer said she had been a competent mother until her husband passed away from a heart attack some years ago. He told Maidstone Crown Court that she hoped to be reunited with her children in the future.
- Chattanooga First to Receive 1Gbps Internet
- Apple iPad Coming to Target, 2G Version in Q4
- Zuckerberg Confesses to IMs
- Woman Sues Facebook After Getting Banned
- A USB Spy Stick Used to Snoop Out iPhone Data
- Acer's 'Liquid Metal' Phone Runs Android 2.2
- VIDEO: Walkthrough of MSFT's Windows Phone 7
- Google CEO: YouTube is Still Losing Money
- Madden NFL 11 Obliterates Other Games in August
- Guy Makes YouTube Instant, Gets Google Offer
- California Sheriffs Issue 'Pedo Bear' Warning
- PlayStation Move Hits Best Buy Shelves Early
- Report: Nintendo 3DS Launching Nov. 20 in Japan
- Samsung Galaxy Tab to Launch on September 16?
- Apple Ending the iPhone 4 Free Case Program
- Microsoft Holds Funeral for iPhone and BlackBerry
- Want To Nuke A Website? A Botnet For Hire
- McAfee: Using ''Free'' In Search Attracts Malware
- iPhone 5 Will Use Qualcomm Chipset?
Let her two dogs starve to death sounds about fair for her punishment
Sick.
Just let her without food for 2 months and let's see what happen to her....
Disgusting... and I'm an avid gamer
There are very few things that really piss me off, but when I hear about children and animals suffering from the neglect of an individual....just makes my blood boil.
Please remove said offender from the gene pool.
She only got 6 months? Seriously!
How disgusting! I don't know what’s worse; a parent who neglects her three children and lets the family dogs die or a legal system that only gives this person 6 months. Psychological assistance is required!
Facebook is a virus….
The picture accompanying the article is actually from the board game Small World. I didn't think there was an online version of that game. Sure it's not actually www.smallworlds.com?
And look at that, it was a Facebook game lmfao.
I know i play a lot, but still...jeez
The board game "Small World" from Days of Wonder (that you used to illustrate your article) has nothing to do with the smallworld.com online game that the woman played with. Please correct your article and read the statement from Days of Wonder:
http://blog.daysofwonder.com/2010/ [...] s-stories/
At least wow junkies don't have children, mostly because, you know, they play wow.
She obviously was depressed because her husband passed away. She could not deal with it so she escaped in the alternative reality where he did not have to deal with the pain.
I can't help but think of the fat chick from The Guild when I read this. Except the person in this story is a truly sick SOB and needs to be removed from the rest of society. Poor kids and poor animals.
Save the children.
daily mail? pfft.
Yikes!!! Depression and Addiction is always an appetite for destruction...
She should be brought to a rehab after her jail time and get help...
Its a terrible tragedy and she should be punished, but there needs to be a lot better mental health help in the United States to avoid people getting to this crazy addicted point.
A spiraling depression can really get out of hand. Given ease and instant access of any internet game... things that suck you in, sometimes crafted to suck you in.
Its a conundrum. How do you balance personal freedoms not to be tracked with parental responsibilities, with others rights to enjoy things responsibly and play fun engrossing games that for some are fine, but others with addictive personalities can't handle?
before we point the finger, we should realise that gaming is addictive before it gets REAL messy...
games are fun, but your children are FIRST!
far out man.
I feel sorry for her. First she lost her husband to a heart attack, and now she's losing the only things left she values. It's unfortunate she used a video game as an outlet to deal with the loss of her husband and the stress of being a single mother. She needs prayers on her behalf.
LOL
Please remove said offender from the gene pool.
You'd have to take out her three kids as well.
At least get addicted to a real game, not some Facebook game. Doesn't she have a job?
That is too light. She should be stripped of any rights as a parent, forbid access to a computer with internet connection and 2 years of jail time.
Convicted hackers are not allowed PC's, I believe she actually hurts people and animals using them, people like her should be banned PC access.
WoW dodged a bullet here.
Inhuman stuff.
This is sick and a terrible tragedy for her children and those poor animals. Stories like this is what gives gaming a undeserved bad name because the problem is the person not the game. Anyone else think that her punishment sounds like a slap on the wrist for what she has done?
the children are stupid for not feeding the dogs...my dad taught me to feed the dog when i was 7. c'mon..i smell trailer trash
and i won't forget to add the mother is even more of a stupid ****. so there u have it. a family of idiots.