Drunken Mother Gets Treatment, Not Prison - News Story - KCTV Kansas City
ST. CHARLES, Mo. -- A doctor for a woman whose baby died from alcohol poisoning minutes after birth is angered that his patient will avoid a seven-year prison term if she completes an alcohol treatment program.
But treatment advocates say the sentence is the proper way to help Sherri Lohnstein battle alcoholism.
Lohnstein, a 34-year-old from Lincoln County, pleaded guilty last week in St. Charles County Circuit Court to involuntary manslaughter.
She was sentenced to four months in a substance abuse treatment program in the
Missouri Department of Corrections. If she completes the treatment program, a judge can place her on probation, but she also will have to complete drug court, a program that monitors defendants to help them kick addictions.
"It's very frustrating," said Paul Tapia, the doctor who delivered Lohnstein's baby and had told Lohnstein to stop drinking while pregnant. "I think the help is there; I think that people don't utilize it. I just feel bad for the children. ... They aren't even born yet and they are already getting abused."
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Sunday that some experts and counselors are applauding the decision to give offenders like Lohnstein treatment instead of prison time.
"The emphasis should be on prevention, getting women to understand the dangers and if they can't stop drinking, how to get help," said Melinda Ohlemiller, director of prevention services at St. Louis Arc, an agency that helps those with developmental disabilities, including fetal alcohol syndrome.
Prosecutors say Lohnstein was drunk the day she gave birth, with a blood-alcohol level of 0.18 percent. Her daughter Zreanna was born several weeks prematurely on Sept. 9, 2006, with a blood-alcohol level of 0.17 percent, and died of acute intoxication.
Lohnstein also smelled of alcohol during one checkup, and her blood-alcohol level registered 0.22 percent. In Missouri, a driver is considered legally drunk at 0.08 percent.
Lohnstein allegedly told a nurse she thought a few drinks wouldn't hurt her unborn child.
Zreanna's father, James Harrison, said Lohnstein shouldn't have to go to prison to do her treatment.
"I think she's already done her time," Harrison said. He declined to comment further. Lohnstein spent about six months in jail while waiting for her case to be resolved.
St. Charles County Prosecutor Jack Banas said that Lohnstein had to admit what she did was wrong and that she had a problem, as part of the sentence.
"It's a far step to say she got away with it," Banas said. "If she completes the program and gets probation, that probation is not going to be an easy probation. You can give people the opportunities; it's up to them to take advantage of those tools."
Treating mothers for alcoholism is the best way to ensure they don't endanger other children after they are released from prison, Ohlemiller said. Some pregnant women might inquire about treatment, not mention that they are pregnant, and hear that a treatment center is full.
But the law says that if a clinic takes federal funding, a pregnant woman moves to the top of the center's priority list, said Ohlemiller, who also is an advisory board member for a federal initiative devoted to preventing and treating fetal alcohol disorders.
Tapia, Lohnstein's doctor, said he's unconvinced.
"I think she got away with it. This is a case where the baby died because of what she did. I think four months is nothing," he said.
This woman needs JAIL!!!! and lots of it!
Baby born drunk dies... mom gets treatment??? WTF!!!
. She was probably drunk through the most part of her pregnancy. And yes, that's going to hurt your unborn child. Idiot.
Sputnik for ruler of the world!
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