A Sydney naturopath claimed she only wanted to help, but today she has been sentenced to a maximum 14 months jail, for nearly killing a baby boy.



Marilyn Bodner, 62, prescribed a raw food only diet for the eight-month-old child, in a bid to cure him of eczema.

She treated him in her home clinic at Leppington in Sydney's southwest but he ended up extremely malnourished and close to death.

In sentencing, Judge Peter Berman said “the advice given by Marilyn Bodnar almost led to the child's death".

Marilyn Bodnar arrives at the Downing Centre Court today. (AAP) (AAP)

Bodnar, 62, advised the mother, who cannot be named for legal reasons, to go on a raw food diet, and then later a water only diet to subdue the skin condition.

Crown Prosecutor Tony McCarthy told the court: "The failure to provide the necessities of life is a blind allegiance to her own ideology."

“This blind allegiance was the cause of the child nearly dying and ignoring the warning signs of the loss of weight,” Mr McCarthy said.

“She was aware of the child's loss of weight but continued with the treatment.”

Court documents previously tendered to the court state Bodnar allegedly asked the mother: "Are you 100 percent raw? You have to be 100 percent raw if you want to see your son heal."

When he developed a fever, she went a step further and told her to drink only water.

Marilyn Bodnar in court in August last year. (AAP) (AAP)

The mother presented with the baby to Westmead Hospital in 2015.

When the infant was admitted, he had lost more than one kilogram in weight and was in a critical condition.

Bodnar pleaded guilty to one count of aiding and abetting the mother in failing to provide the necessities of life in August last year.

Defence barrister Rick Mitry argued the mother had medical training as a midwife and twice consulted with doctors during the treatment period under Bodnar.

Mr Mitry said the naturopath was paraded in front of media cameras by police during her July 2015 arrest and had since been "trolled and bullied on social media".



"She feels crushed. She has been punished," he said.

The naturopath was accused of manslaughter in 1988, after the death of Narelle Neimann, 42, who was under Bodnar's care and on a water diet for 60 days.

Marilyn Bodnar has been sentenced to a maximum of 14 months jail. (AAP) (AAP)

Neimann was staying with her friend Bodnar at the time of her death.

Prosecutors argued Bodnar failed to get professional help when her condition deteriorated, but Bodnar was acquitted.

While awaiting this trail, Bodnar's bail conditions stated she was "not, under any circumstances, to treat any children under the age of 16" and "not to advise any parents who have children under the age of 16".

9NEWS revealed in August that Bodnar continued to host workshops with her website detailing fasting advice for parents and special discounts for children under the age of 12.

9NEWS also captured participants arriving for one such seminar last year.

The boy's mother, a maternity ward nurse, was handed a 14-month suspended jail sentence in August 2016 after pleading guilty to failing to provide the necessities of life for her child.

The naturopath was supported by her husband in court.