A US daycare owner who tried to kill a toddler by hanging him has been given probation.
In November 2016, a father went to drop off his son at the home of Nataliia Karia, 43. When the woman led him toward the basement, he saw a 16-month-old boy hanging from a noose by his neck. He released the child, who survived his ordeal, and escaped from the house.
Karia fled the scene in her minivan, colliding with a pedestrian, a cyclist and another driver. She was found on a motorway overpass threatening to jump, but was taken into custody.
She pleaded guilty to attempted murder and third-degree assault in February, abandoning a possible insanity defence. She also pleaded guilty to criminal vehicular operation for her accident-filled getaway.
The Ukrainian woman, who arrived in the US in 2006, told the court she was physically and emotionally abused by her husband, who prevented her from seeking medical attention for her mental illness.
She claims when she was pregnant with one of her daughters, he punched her in the stomach for not providing him with a son.
In a Minneapolis court on Monday (local time), Karia was sentenced to 10 years of probation and faces no jail time.
Judge Jay Quam said she was at a "low risk" of reoffending, calling the situation "the perfect storm of factors unlikely to ever be repeated".
Karia must follow court-ordered mental health treatment and will be under electronic home monitoring for at least two months.
She will live with her adult son but is not allowed to have unsupervised contact with her three daughters who are aged two, seven and 10 years old.
Newshub.
