(10/30/06) CENTRAL ISLIP - Jurors began deliberations Monday to determine whether a Mastic mom is guilty of child abuse for allegedly denying her daughter chemotherapy treatment.

Prosecutors claim Ursula Loscalzo was neglectful and denied chemotherapy for her 5-year-old daughter diagnosed with pelvic cancer. Loscalzo and her family are Medicaid patients, which she says caused the doctors to treat her differently. Loscalzo says she simply asked the doctors to explain other options and was never told about the urgency of treatment. Her daughter had undergone surgery to remove a tumor when she was 4.

As jurors deliberate, Loscalzo's six children remain in foster care. If convicted, the mother faces up to a year in jail for each charge, which include child abuse, endangering the welfare of a child and neglect. The jury will reconvene Tuesday.