Pennsylvania State Police arrested 33-year-old Joshua Ross Weyant and 28-year-old Brandi Jene Weyant after intentionally depriving their children of food and proper hygiene, the PennLive.com reports.
The couple are now charged with multiple counts of conspiracy, aggravated assault, false imprisonment, and unlawful restraint.
Dauphin County Children and Youth Services discovered the three children—two girls who are four and five and a boy who’s six—in extremely emaciated condition and covered in filth in the forms of lice, bruises, urine, and feces.
According to reports, the starvation started in September. Medical records predict that the children were literally days away from dying. All three children was immediately put under care at the Penn State Milton S Hershey Medical Center on December 16.
The weights of the three are horrifying. The boy only weighed a mere 27.3 lbs. The two girls were 23 and 26 lbs. The last food that their stomach burned was an apple.
According to the police, the couple are not the biological parents of the three. They decided to lock them up inside the bedroom and starve them after Joshua didn’t want to take care of them anymore. Brandi, although she denied it, was an accomplice to the horrendous act.
Brandi claimed that she would sneak up snacks into the bedroom when Joshua was away.
Joshua and Brandi Weyant are now in jail on a million-dollar bond.
Police told PennLive, “The victims were infested with lice so severe that the children screamed when the lice were physically removed from their bodies by medical personnel and investigators.”
The boy had a deep laceration on his right eye after being allegedly thrown across the floor by Joshua. The boy also had a distended stomach that was swelling so much they had to insert a tube to lessen the swell.
The older girl was having a hard time processing solid food. Her internal organs were all tangled up due to the lack of fat to hold them properly.
The younger girl was released early but had to come back due to constant vomiting and fever.
According to the affidavit, the children haven’t been in school for months and were not allowed to leave the house, even though all of their toys are outside.
The children are now under the care of the Dauphin County Children and Youth Services.
