Mom arrested after malnourished son found locked in bathroom
SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah mother has been charged with child abuse by authorities who say she locked her 12-year-old son in a filthy bathroom without lights for at least one year, leaving him dangerously malnourished.
The boy’s father found him in the mother’s house Friday night in the small southeastern Utah city of Toquerville near the state line with Arizona, Washington County Sheriff’s Office Lt. David Crouse said on Tuesday.
Authorities found feces throughout the bathroom, one blanket, a few empty cans of beans and a camera that may have been used to capture what was going on in there, Crouse said. The boy was likely kept in the dark, he said. Investigators found 3 square feet of duct tape mounted on the light switch so it could not be turned on. The door had locks on the outside.
The boy, who was unable to stand on his own and weighed 30 pounds, was taken to a hospital where he is expected to remain for weeks to recover, Crouse said. The doctor who treated the boy says it is the worst case of malnourishment he had ever seen, Crouse said.