Posted at 1:57 p.m., Friday, August 2, 2002
Mother given 6-month term for baby's death
Associated Press
LIHUE A Kaua'i woman convicted in the death her newborn son was sentenced yesterday to six months in prison.Christine Robles, 22, was also sentenced to 10 years probation by Circuit Judge Clifford Nakea.
Robles pleaded guilty to manslaughter in June in connection with the April 2001 death of her newborn son who was posthumously named Benny Robles.
Prosecutors said Robles stuffed the baby into a paper rice bag and threw the bag into a trash can outside her Koloa home to conceal her pregnancy from family members.
A forensic pathologist determined the child had been born alive and apparently healthy and was suffocated.
Nakea said he was prepared to give Robles a one-year sentence but changed his mind after seeing how supportive her family was.
