Oregon Woman Sentenced to Prison After Starving Boyfriend’s Son to Under 40 Pounds

A 40-year-old Oregon woman, who systematically starved her boyfriend’s son until he weighed less than 40 pounds by age seven, was sentenced on Friday to 23 months in prison by a Multnomah County judge.

Jamie Strahm, of The Dalles, was found guilty on two counts of first-degree criminal mistreatment and sentenced to a total of 23 months in prison and 36 months of post-prison supervision.

The Boy Suffered an Unexplained Head Injury

Strahm began caring for her boyfriend’s son in 2014 when the child was four years old. The following year the child spent several weeks in a hospital after suffering from an unexplained head injury. He was discharged weighing only 45 pounds and needed to eat with a feeding tube.

By Age 7 He Weighed Less Than 40 Pounds

By age seven in 2018 the child weighed less than 40 pounds. When speaking to health providers, Strahm claimed that the child refused to eat by mouth.

Over the following 18 months, Strahm failed to make a follow-up appointment with the boy’s dietician and canceled or failed to keep several medical appointments.

When she eventually took the child to see the dietician in October 2019, the dietician was concerned about the boy’s weight and frailty and arranged to have the child admitted to the Randall Children’s Hospital the following day.

When the child, now seven years old, was admitted to hospital he weighed under 40 pounds and suffered from ‘refeeding syndrome’ – a condition that manifests when a malnourished person begins to eat food again.

The Child Gained Weight When Strahm Was Banned from the Hospital

Court records show that hospital staff discovered that the boy would eat by mouth when Strahm was not in the room. In November, Strahm was banned from the hospital and the child gained 10 pounds within a month.

On his discharge from the hospital, the child was taken into custody by the Department of Human Services and now lives with his biological mother.

When Strahm is released from prison, she will serve 36 months probation on condition she has no contact with the boy. She must also attend a parenting class, is not allowed to physically discipline any child, and must undergo psychological evaluation.