Parents Chris Freeman, 39, and Katelyn Freeman, 27, have been arrested after their extremely malnourished son was found living in a wardrobe where he was allegedly restrained with ropes
A child who was found locked in his wardrobe at home was so severely malnourished that he looked like a “skeleton with skin”.
Chris Freeman, 39, and Katelyn Freeman, 27, from Arkansas, US, have been arrested and charged with first-degree battery and endangering the welfare of a minor. Their son, aged 7, was rushed to hospital in critical condition and was near death, doctors said.
Investigators entered their home and spotted a closet which the couple had allegedly turned into a makeshift bedroom for their son, where he was confined and often tied up with rope, police said. Russelville Police deemed the conditions as “unfit for children”, according to local media.
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Shocked officers discovered urine and faeces on the floor of the closet and said it had worn-down walls. Other children living in the home allegedly told police that the couple used ropes to restrain their seven-year-old son. The ropes, which police found, were allegedly used to punish another child.
The couple are said to have confessed to locking their son inside the closet and didn’t seek help in case they were reported to the authorities, THV11 reported. Medics were left shocked when the boy was hospitalised and said he was “pale, limp and extremely underweight at just 28 lbs”.
Doctors told investigators that after years of malnutrition, the boy was a “near fatality”. They described the ordeal as “mental and physical torture”.
Police Chief David Ewing told local TV station, KARK: “There is no denying that this shook us to our core. I mean, he was basically just a skeleton with skin on it.” He added: “As part of our investigation, we noticed that it was not from a lack of food. It’s not. There was an abundance of food in the residence.
“From what we understand, there was also a large sum of money in the residence. So there was no reasonable explanation that we could find why the child would be malnourished or in that condition at all.”
He continued: “At that time, there was two other siblings, a five-year-old boy and a three-year-old girl. There is indications of malnourishment on one of them, not to the extreme as the seven-year-old.”
Ewing told TV station, THV11: “When you got medical professionals using the word torture — mental and physical torture — that’s just brutal facts, and that story is hard to tell.”
The parents have been detained in a detention centre. However, it remains unclear whether they have entered a plea at this time.