Starving ballerina kept in ‘Peter Pan’ child-like state so parents ‘would always be needed’, trial told

WARNING: CONFRONTING IMAGES. A Floreat couple accused of starving their daughter tried to keep her in a “Peter Pan” state so they would “always be needed”, a court has been told. After four weeks of evidence at their District Court of WA trial, prosecutor Jenha Winter described the case as “highly unusual” in her closing address on Monday. “Love can make us deliberately turn a blind eye to all sorts of things,” Ms Winter said. Their conduct “resulted in their little girl simply never growing up” and made her “a character in one of the Disney films she loved ... Peter Pan”. The prosecutor said neither of the accused enjoyed family life as children, but having their daughter gave them a new purpose in life. “They never wanted that to change,” Ms Winter said. “They kept her small in every way they could ... so they would always be needed.” When the couple finally bowed to pressure and brought the girl to hospital in April 2021, “under threat” by the Department of Communities, she was severely malnourished. And she had “clearly been that way for years”, Ms Winter said. Dance teacher Tania Shillington began expressing concern about the tiny teen two years earlier, and another studio owner, Michelle Doepel, echoed her concerns, testifying the girl was “dancing on bones”. However, the couple repeatedly and “consciously” disregarded such concerns, believing “an alternative reality” and insisting that there was nothing wrong with their girl. “This was just not the case,” Ms Winter said. Weeks away from her 17th birthday, she weighed only 28.1kg and was stunted, developmentally akin to a child aged between nine and 11. “She was not just a little bit underweight and a little bit short,” Ms Winter said. “Her appearance was extreme. “This was bleedingly obvious to anybody with eyes. “They just didn’t accept what they were being told. That is the exact definition of recklessness. “They just thought they knew better.” In hospital, the home-schooled vegan showed no evidence of a mental health or eating disorder, and did not refuse food. Kid’s Helpline 1800 55 1800 If you need help or support for an eating disorder or body image issue, please call Butterfly’s National Helpline on 1800 334 673 or e-mail support@butterfly.org.au