Red Lake man sentenced to 5 years for neglect following child's death
Jul. 23—MINNEAPOLIS — A Red Lake man has been sentenced to five years in prison followed by two years of supervised release for child neglect following the death of a child in Red Lake Nation.
According to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice, between Jan. 1, 2022, and Dec. 25, 2022, 42-year-old Julius Fineday Sr. willfully deprived a child of necessary food, health care and other basic needs, despite "being reasonably able to make the necessary provisions," the release said. The neglect ultimately resulted in the child's death.
Fineday pleaded guilty to one count of felony child neglect causing the death of a child on March 25, 2024. He was sentenced on Tuesday, July 23, in U.S. District Court by Chief Judge Patrick J. Schlitz. His co-defendant, Sharon Rosebear, was
convicted of felony child neglect
following an April 2024 jury trial and is awaiting sentencing.
According to court documents, the child's cause of death was determined to be the combined effects of malnutrition and Group A Streptococcal infection, resulting from neglect.
In sentencing Fineday, Chief Judge Schiltz emphasized that Fineday neglected the child in "nearly every way" a caretaker can neglect a child, noting that Fineday had deprived the child of necessary nutrition, had failed to address her head lice, had kept her from attending school where she would have received nutritious meals the school provided, and had failed to take her to the doctor for three years other than for COVID vaccinations for which the household received cash incentives.
Schiltz highlighted that the starvation of the child was not due to a lack of resources or inadequate food in the house, but instead, a lack of care, noting that the child was "not just thin, but skeletal" at the time of her death, the release said.
Schiltz also emphasized that the sentence of 60 months should signal to all those caring for children that "neglecting or abusing a child will result in negative consequences not only for the child but also the responsible adult," the release continued.
He expressed hope that others faced with a child whose basic needs are not being met will consider the risk of such consequences and, at a minimum, "pick up the phone" to seek help.
This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Red Lake Tribal Police Department.
