3 months ago
23
A West Australian mum has been narrowly avoided jail after she gave birth in secret and hid the baby’s body inside a bag before lying about ever being pregnant.
Monique Ellen Burton, 35, appeared in Perth District Court on Friday, where she was sentenced for interfering with a corpse and 12 counts of fraud related to money she received in donations via a GoFundMe page.
Monique Ellen Burton outside court on Thursday.Credit: 9News Perth
Horrific details about how Burton hid her full-term pregnancy in late 2021 were aired in court on Thursday ahead of her sentencing, including information about how her partner had found the dead baby in a bag and “freaked out”, before putting it in the freezer.
Burton was found by her partner of 14 years, Shaun Balaam, on the sofa on the morning of August 19, 2022, feeling unwell. She told him she was feeling nauseous, but after seeing blood on her legs he took her to the hospital.
She repeatedly denied giving birth or recently being pregnant, despite medical indications to the opposite.
Days later, she admitted having had a baby, telling hospital staff it was behind the sofa. Police searched her home in Geraldton, in WA’s Mid West, and spoke to her partner, who said he had found the bag but didn’t know what was inside.
He suspected it might be a baby due to Burton’s history of concealing pregnancies, but that he “freaked out” and put it in the freezer for her to deal with.
A post-mortem examination could not determine if the baby had been stillborn, but Burton said it was.
On Friday, Perth District Court Judge Darren Renton said the case was “tragic … on many levels”, adding that there were “layers of complexity”.
He told Burton she had “maintained lies” about medical conditions, being pregnant and giving birth, but said her interference with the baby’s body was “not sophisticated” and not meant to be permanent.
“It was naive,” he said.
“An ‘out of sight, out of mind’ act.”
While Renton said Burton’s behaviour was towards “the lower end” of the scale of criminal culpability, he said what she did “involved a degree of indignity towards Baby Burton”.
He said Burton suffered stress, isolation and depression after the death of her 15-month-old son two years earlier from medical complications.
She was also suffering from long-standing feelings of abandonment by her parents and had a lack of role modelling, rendering her unable to cope.
Loading
Renton said Burton also suffered depressive episodes, unresolved grief from trauma, limited social support, and had no personal family support as well as relationship difficulties.
The judge added that Burton felt “shame” about her offending and was suffering from feelings of “helplessness and hopelessness”.
He sentenced Burton to a 19-month prison term that was suspended for 12 months and included a treatment program to address personal development, psychiatric needs and parenting.
Balaam was sentenced last year to a 12-month community-based order for his charges.
Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.
Most Viewed in National
Loading
