A couple from Evergreen, Colorado has been charged with child abuse after their 6-year-old daughter was brought to Children's Hospital Colorado weighing only 25 pounds.
The Denver Channel published that Katherine Barton, 36, and Jason Barton, 40, are currently facing child abuse felony charges resulting in serious bodily injury, said the Jefferson County District Attorney's Office.
An investigator report details that the Bartons told hospital staffers that their child was "out of control" and that their daughter wouldn't stop eating. In order to control the consumption, they had to install locks on their refrigerator and pantry doors. They also detailed that their daughter had a tendency to over-eat then vomit so they would limit her food intake.
The news outlet also shared that per the arrest affidavit, doctors who attended the young child told Jefferson County sheriff's investigators that the 6-year-old has been suffering from long-term, severe malnutrition and she looked like "that of concentration camp victims."
At 25 pounds, she was at the average weight and height of a toddler and she was severely malnourished to the point where her organs would have begun shutting down soon.
"On admission, her weight was 25 pounds, which would be appropriate for a normal two-year-old," quoted Reuters of a statement. "Medical experts reportedly believed that her low weight was consistent with an insufficient diet despite plentiful food in the family home."
The couple took the girl to the Hospital on June 10 and told the doctors that due to food issues, she has been unable to gain weight. More over, they also admitted that as a form of punishment, if their child misbehave she would be made to walk "laps" around their home's driveway.
However, Denver Channel wrote that per doctors, within 48 hours of admission, the child, who didn't show any signs of autism or other social or behavioral disorders, has gained weight and added a total of 4 pounds within the first week.
In addition, an unnamed eye-witness has disclosed that she once saw the child crying as she run up and down the family home and her father was saying to the young child, "This is because you are stealing food."
The girl is currently in the custody of Jefferson County Human Services.
Each of the Bartons have posted $25,000 bail bonds and are due back in court on July 21 for a preliminary hearing.
