Parents arrested on child torture charges for allegedly starving 5-year-old

WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah (ABC4) — The father and stepmother of a 5-year-old are facing child torture charges after the child was hospitalized for showing signs of starvation.

The child’s father, 32, and stepmother, 44, have been arrested for child torture. They have not been formally charged. ABC4 is not publicly naming them to protect the identity of the 5-year-old.

According to the arrest statement, a 5-year-old child was brought to the hospital due to an inability to gain weight. Doctors found that the child’s heart rate was extremely low, and the child was admitted to the hospital.

Safe and Healthy Families reviewed the child’s medical history and found that “a lack of caloric intake should be considered as the source of [the child’s] growth failure.” Tests were conducted, and no other reason was found for the 5-year-old not gaining weight.

After doctors provided the child with food, they reportedly saw “signs of electrolyte levels consistent with refeeding syndrome,” a syndrome people experience when they begin eating after being starved or malnourished.

The investigating officer with the West Valley City Police Department was informed by doctors that the 5-year-old’s weight was “that of an average 18-month-old.”

Documents say that doctors reported that the low heart rate symptom (known as bradycardia) was improving after the child began to eat. “Malnutrition severe enough to result in bradycardia, should it be inadequately addressed, can result in death,” the arrest statement reads.

The Division of Child and Family Services removed the 5-year-old from the custody of their father and stepmother and placed with a foster family. The child began steadily gaining weight during their hospital stay and with their foster family, and began to overcome a developmental delay that doctors believe is due to a lack of nutrition.

The investigating officer went to the home where the 5-year-old had been living with their father, stepmother, and two other children. He found that the family lived in a one-bedroom apartment where the parents shared a bed. One child slept on an air mattress, an infant slept in a bassinet, and the 5-year-old was forced to sleep on the floor.

Locks on the fridge, freezers, trash, and pantries were discovered by the officer.

During an interview with the 5-year-old’s father, he told police that he had placed the locks to “prevent [the child] from stealing food.” He claimed that he would feed the child portions for an adult, and they would “still constantly eat frozen food and sneak food from the trash.”

The father stated that “no matter what [he] and [the stepmother] did, they could not get [the 5-year-old] to gain weight.” Documents say that when asked why the child was gaining weight while eating at the hospital, he did not have an explanation.

Next, the officer spoke with the 5-year-old’s stepmother about the malnutrition. She claimed that at first, the child’s father was responsible for feeding them, but she had to “take over due to [him] resenting [the child].”

The stepmother also could not explain why the child was not gaining weight while allegedly eating adult portions under their care, but was gaining weight with their foster family. Documents say she mentioned that their family was struggling for money, but claimed the 5-year-old never went without food.

When both parents were asked about why the 5-year-old slept on the floor, they claimed that there was a mattress in a storage unit, but it was “too hard to get” and there was “no room in the apartment.” They allegedly believed “it would be ok” for the child to sleep on the floor.

Safe and Healthy Families told the investigating officer that the 5-year-old had initially hidden their food, but over time, was beginning to offer it to nurses and leaving food behind on the plate. The child was “not showing any signs of the overeating habits” reported by their parents.

The 5-year-old “has no place to sleep in the home and is showing signs of starvation to the point she could potentially die without medical prevention. Both of the two other children in the home were not showing any signs of starvation or malnutrition,” the arresting officer concluded their statement.

The child’s father and stepmother were both arrested and booked into the Salt Lake County Jail, where they are being held without bail.