Geraldton mother Monique Burton to be sentenced over newborn baby's body in freezer
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.
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.
The mother, from Geraldton, is set to be sentenced in Perth tomorrow — and her appearance in the Perth District Court today unveiled the horrific circumstances surrounding the baby's birth.
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.
She claims it was stillborn, but police have not been able to determine when or how the baby died.
Methamphetamine was detected in the baby's system, the court was told.
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.
Once there, she denied giving birth, telling staff she had been menstruating, prosecutor Jehna Winter told the court.
When he got home, Balaam found the garbage bag containing the baby — though he said he did not look inside.
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.
He put the bag in a chest freezer, under a bag of dog food, the court was told.
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.
A friend then set up a GoFundMe on her behalf claiming she had been diagnosed with terminal liver cancer.
Burton had made a minor liver issue "seem worse than it was", and got more than $3,000 in donations, the court heard.
However, she was "never diagnosed with a terminal illness," Ms Winter said, and had never undergone dialysis
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.
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.
The prosecutor said investigations "couldn't determine cause of death or whether it had taken a first breath".
Ms Winter told the court that the boy was "anatomically normal" but methylamphetamine was detected in his system.
The court heard Burton could not say why she did not reveal the pregnancy.
Her lawyer Anthony Elliott described the concealment as 'amateurish'and said it was 'unlikely there was any sinister intention.'
Mr Elliott said she suffered from 'depressive episodes' due to trauma, but "In terms of moral culpability, this is towards the lower end of the scale."
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.
Earlier, her partner Balaam received a 12-month community based order in Geraldton after admitting improper interference with a corpse.
Burton is set to be sentenced on Friday.
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