California parents sentenced to 9 years for child abuse that left infant blind, quadriplegic

Two parents who were convicted of child abuse after their infant son was left blind and quadriplegic due to malnutrition and exposure to extreme temperatures were sentenced to nine years in state prison on Friday, Oct. 24.

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Jaqueline Navarro, 45, and John Andres Gonzalez, 38, were found guilty in Orange County Superior Court in June of a felony count of child abuse with an enhancement for causing great bodily injury to a child under the age of 5. The conviction came more than five years after the mother and father, residents of Lindsay in Tulare County, brought their unresponsive 10-month-old named Journey to a Newport Beach emergency room on Aug. 1, 2020, while visiting Orange County.

The baby, who was gray, emaciated and catatonic when brought to the Hoag Hospital Emergency Room, was suffering from extremely low blood-sugar levels, hypoxia and constant seizures, according to prosecutors. It was later determined by a specialist that the baby was malnourished.

Prosecutors said that Navarro and Gonzalez are vegan, mucus-free fruitarians who follow “naturopathy,” believing that the body can heal itself and that baby formula and breast milk are toxic. The baby was only fed fruit, vegetables and soy-based baby formula, and, within weeks of his birth, was placed into ice baths and saunas.

Despite medical treatment, the boy suffered permanent neurological damage as a result of severe malnutrition, leaving him blind and unable to walk, talk or eat on his own.

Four victim impact statements were submitted to the prosecutor, Deputy District Attorney Bethel Cope-Vega, which she read aloud during the hearing.

Journey suffers from a multitude of medical complications, including an incurable lung disease, scoliosis, tremors, relies on a G-tube to eat, and has had surgery on both hips, according to victim impact statements and the prosecution. He was recently placed on hospice, which means that medical professionals estimate he has six months or less to live. Journey could outlive that prognosis, but he is no longer receiving “strength-giving” treatments, the prosecution said, and he is vulnerable to infection.

“As a county social worker, with nearly 20 years of experience, I have handled numerous cases involving children and family,” read Cope-Vega, from a statement submitted by witness Tricia Guinto. “This case will remain with me throughout my career as I witnessed the profound suffering Journey endured, from the moment he was admitted to Children’s Hospital of Orange County.”

Patty Sanchez, Gonzalez’s mother and the current guardian of Journey, also submitted a victim impact statement, which Cope-Vega read in court.

“Sadly Jackie and Johnny have imprisoned him forever in his little body,” she read from Sanchez’s letter. “From the moment he took his first breath, you both treated him like a science experiment.”

In addition to receiving a nine-year sentence, the maximum sentence available, the judge ordered Gonzalez and Navarro to pay restitution, the amount of which will be determined at a later date.

Tulare County previously paid a $32 million settlement over its child welfare department’s failure to protect the infant despite multiple reports from concerned relatives in the months before Journey’s hospitalization.