Red Lake Woman Sentenced for Death of Child in her Care

(KNSI) – A 64-year-old Red Lake woman has been sentenced to 15 months in prison for her role in the death of a child in her care.

According to a press release, trial evidence showed Sharon Rosebear intentionally deprived the child of food and healthcare, and although Rosebear did not have formal legal custody of the kid, the jury was instructed she still had a duty to provide care. Evidence presented at trial also showed she had the means to provide nutrition and healthcare. The testimony highlighted that healthcare services were freely available within the Red Lake Nation and that the family received sufficient nutritional and financial assistance. Despite this, prosecutors said Rosebear willfully withheld food and failed to seek medical care as the child’s health worsened.

Medical experts testified that the child had remained at the same weight for nearly three years and suffered from a severe lice infestation. The infection that contributed to the child’s death in 2022 may have been caused by scalp wounds from untreated lice, and prolonged starvation likely weakened the child’s immune system.

Following a six-day trial, Rosebear was found guilty of felony child neglect on April 29th, 2024, in U.S. District Court.

As Chief Judge Patrick J. Schiltz handed down the sentence, he called the death “One of the most tragic things about Minor A’s death is that it was so easily preventable … day after day, week after week, month after month, Ms. Rosebear watched as Minor A slowly starved to death.”

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