WARNING: This story contains distressing details.<\/p>\n
A woman who secretly gave birth on her lounge room floor put her newborn baby boy in a plastic bag before her partner stored the infant’s body in a freezer, a Perth court has been told.<\/p>\n
Monique Ellen Burton, 35, denied being pregnant and told friends she had a terminal illness, which saw her raise thousands of dollars via a GoFundMe page.<\/p>\n
The mother, from Geraldton, is set to be sentenced in Perth tomorrow \u2014 and her appearance in the Perth District Court today unveiled the horrific circumstances surrounding the baby’s birth.<\/p>\n
Body put in garbage bag<\/p>\n
The court heard Burton gave birth at home in August 2022 before putting the baby in a plastic garbage bag and hiding it behind the couch.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Monique Burton is being sentenced for interfering with her baby’s corpse and fraud. (ABC News: Jack Stevenson)<\/p>\n
She claims it was stillborn, but police have not been able to determine when or how the baby died.<\/p>\n
Methamphetamine was detected in the baby’s system, the court was told.<\/p>\n
Burton managed to conceal the fact she had just given birth from her partner Shaun Bradley Balaam, who took her to hospital because she was visibly ill.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Burton gave birth in secret at her home in Geraldton. (ABC News: Chris Lewis)<\/p>\n
Once there, she denied giving birth, telling staff she had been menstruating, prosecutor Jehna Winter told the court.<\/p>\n
When he got home, Balaam found the garbage bag containing the baby \u2014 though he said he did not look inside.<\/p>\n
He told police he suspected it may have been a baby as he knew Burton had a history of concealing pregnancies, and had felt what he suspected was a head when picking up the bag.<\/p>\n
He put the bag in a chest freezer, under a bag of dog food, the court was told.<\/p>\n
GoFundMe page set up<\/p>\n
Burton was meanwhile transferred to King Edward Memorial Hospital in Perth, where she was “repeatedly asked” about giving birth, but continued to deny she’d been pregnant.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
King Edward Memorial Hospital is Perth’s only tertiary maternity hospital. (ABC News: John Kerr)<\/p>\n
A friend then set up a GoFundMe on her behalf claiming she had been diagnosed with terminal liver cancer.<\/p>\n
Burton had made a minor liver issue “seem worse than it was”, and got more than $3,000 in donations, the court heard.<\/p>\n
However, she was “never diagnosed with a terminal illness,” Ms Winter said, and had never undergone dialysis<\/p>\n
Police became involved once Burton finally revealed to a social worker that the baby was “in the freezer on the back verandah”, claiming it had been stillborn.<\/p>\n
Police found baby’s body<\/p>\n
Officers visited the house and found the body of the baby boy, with his legs were crossed, “arms close to his chest” and the umbilical cord still attached.<\/p>\n
The prosecutor said investigations “couldn’t determine cause of death or whether it had taken a first breath”.<\/p>\n
Ms Winter told the court that the boy was “anatomically normal” but methylamphetamine was detected in his system.<\/p>\n
The court heard Burton could not say why she did not reveal the pregnancy.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Burton will be sentenced in the District Court in Perth on Friday. (ABC News: Jack Stevenson)<\/p>\n
Her lawyer Anthony Elliott described the concealment as \u201camateurish\u201dand said it was \u201cunlikely there was any sinister intention.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Elliott said she suffered from \u201cdepressive episodes\u201d due to trauma, but “In terms of moral culpability, this is towards the lower end of the scale.”<\/p>\n
Burton had pleaded guilty to interfering with a corpse with intent to prevent an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death, and multiple counts of fraud related to the GoFundMe.<\/p>\n
Earlier, her partner Balaam received a 12-month community based order in Geraldton after admitting improper interference with a corpse.<\/p>\n
Burton is set to be sentenced on Friday.<\/p>\n
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