'They just stayed in bed and took drugs': Parents jailed for eight years after they let their son, eight, die in agony of curable cancer



Willie Robinson died from Hodgkin's lymphoma in 2008 after suffering for more than two years

Lump in his neck was the 'size of a softball'



Aunt says Willie's mother lay in bed during the day and took drugs

Boy pleaded to be taken to doctor but parents claim they couldn't afford it

Judge says autopsy photo showed he looked 'like a concentration camp victim'



The parents of an eight-year-old boy let him die in agony from a treatable cancer because they were too busy lying in bed taking drugs, it emerged today.



Monica Hussing, 37, and William Robinson Sr., 40, were jailed for eight years in Ohio yesterday after pleading guilty to denying their son Willie medical treatment for Hodgkin's lymphoma.

The appalling tale of neglect unfolded as the court heard that Willie had suffered for more than two years with pain and swollen neck glands which grew eventually to the size of a softball.

But despite the boy pleading for help, his parents failed to do anything.



Cuyahoga County Judge Michael Astrab compared the autopsy photo of Willie's emaciated body to that of a concentration camp victim.

Neglect: Monica Hussing, 37, and William Robinson, 40, have been jailed for eight years after admitting that they did not take their son, who was suffering from a curable cancer, to the doctor despite his pleas

Pleaded for help: Prosecutors say Willie Robinson begged his mother and father to take him to the doctor

'If anybody, anybody, didn't know this kid was sick, they are seriously, seriously disturbed,' he said.

Monica Hussing's sister Sheila Slawinski wept as she told the court that her nephew had pleaded with her shortly before he died: 'I am so in pain ... please take me to the doctor ... the last four weeks have been the most painful.'

Miss Slawinski said: 'I told my sister. I offered to help my sister.'

Hussing and Robinson had claimed that the family, who lived in Warren, could not afford medical bills.



Hussing said they tried repeatedly to get help from social services and visited a free clinic but left when told they would have to pay $180.



However, the prosecution said that despite claiming financial hardship the couple had paid $87 to have a pit bull treated for fleas.

The prosecution said at least eight family members noticed Willie's deteriorating health over a period of more than two years and most spoke to the couple about it.



One relative described the boy's swollen neck glands as the size of a softball.



Miss Slawinski said: 'Twenty-nine months he suffered. Twenty-nine months they had to do something and they chose not to.'

Asked outside court why her sister hadn't taken care of Willie and hadn't enrolled him or his three siblings in school, Miss Slawinski said it was easier for Hussing to stay in bed during the day and do drugs.



Both parents abused drugs, their attorneys earlier told the judge.



Shortly after their visit to the clinic the family moved to Cleveland, where Willie died within weeks - on March 22, 2008.

Two doctors told the judge before the sentencing that no sick child would be turned away from a hospital.

Needless tragedy: Willie, eight, died of Hodgkin's lymphoma which has a 96 per cent survivability rate if properly treated

Hussing and Robinson were given the maximum prison sentence after changing their plea to guilty of attempted involuntary manslaughter just as their trial was about to begin.

They were handcuffed and taken into custody immediately. Both plan to appeal the sentence.

'I loved my son,' Robinson told the judge, occasionally wiping his eyes with a tissue. He said he was sorry.

'I tried to help my son,' Hussing said as family members in the courtroom quietly sobbed.

Hussing's oldest daughter, Lillian, 18, defended her mother in court and claimed Willie was able to do the same things as other eight-year-olds.



'He was able to play, go outside, she said.

The judge looked surprised and asked the teenager if she would be willing to repeat her statements under oath and possible penalty of perjury. She did.

Trumbull County Children Services said it had worked with the family to provide Willie with health care, getting involved after receiving a phone call in July 2007.



Agency officials said a case worker visited the family at least monthly and pushed the parents to have a medical follow-up on the child's swollen neck but they failed to do so.



However, Robinson's attorney Thomas Rein said previously that a social worker who visited the family in January 2008 'indicated the kids were healthy and happy'.

He said no one knew Willie had cancer until he died and an autopsy was performed.

And Lillian Hussing said a case worker had told the family her brother's lump looked like a swollen gland and to hold off until they could secure financial assistance before getting it checked.

Monica Hussing, pictured with her lawyer John Luskin, is handcuffed after sentencing. She claimed she had tried to help her son

William Robinson told the court he was sorry and that he had loved his son Willlie

About two weeks after they moved to Cleveland, she said, her brother came down with something. Her mother treated him with cold medicine and he died within three days.

She said the boy never complained about his neck.

'He played, he went outside, he wrestled, he played video games,' she said.

'He was the happiest kid you could imagine. It never seemed like he was suffering.'

The emotional aftermath from their son's death led the couple to split, according to Hussing's defense attorney, John Luskin. He also said that the dog which had been treated for fleas had belonged to Hussing's parents and they had paid for the treatment.

The couple's four other children under 18 were placed in the custody of a family member.



Mr Luskin said Lillian, upon turning 18, decided to return to live with her mother.



Lillian said her mother took a plea bargain because of the uncertainty of a trial and fear she could be sent to prison for a long time.

Mr Rein said Robinson agreed to plead guilty so his children could be spared any further grief and wouldn't have to suffer by testifying.



As part of the deal, the prosecution agreed to drop four counts each against each parent, including child endangering. Prosecutors didn't agree to a sentence recommendation. Both Mr Luskin and Mr Rein had said they hoped the judge would consider probation.

'There's not a day my client ... starts without shedding a tear for his son,' Mr Rein said.

The coroner ruled that the boy was a victim of medical neglect and died from pneumonia due to Hodgkin lymphoma.

Hodgkin's lymphoma is a highly treatable cancer, with as many as 95 per cent of patients in early stages of the disease surviving for five years or more with treatment.

It's one of the most common forms of cancers among children.