Articles labeled: malnourishment

A woman who kept her 17-year-old adopted son in a cage, while also causing him to become seriously malnourished, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison. Not enough, in our opinion.

Brenda Sullivan pleaded guilty in January to three counts of aggravated child abuse. Prosecutors agreed to drop lesser child neglect charges.

The teen weighed 49 pounds when child welfare workers found him in 2005 in what appeared to be a cage. Sullivan told a judge at the time that Ohio authorities told her to keep the boy, who had severe medical and emotional problems, in a crib.

“There’s only one conclusion when you look at the medical evidence in this case, and that is that she literally starved him,” prosecutor Julie Schlax said.

Two other children, 13-year-old twins the Sullivans adopted as infants, both testified they were kept in similar cages.

Fellow Navy seamen Corey Alan Bryant and Heaven Kristina Smith have been charged in the death of their baby, Miracle Grace. Miracle’s twin sister, Heaven L. Bryant is in the hospital. Smith was charged with one count of murder, and both her and Bryant were charged with two felony counts of neglect, as the infants were apparently just ignored by the couple:

Both children were taken to Bon Secours DePaul Medical Center on Tuesday, where Miracle Grace died about 9:30 a.m. police said.

The medical examiner determined the death to be a homicide, police said.

The cause was medical and nutritional neglect, said Donna Price, spokeswoman for the medical examiner’s office.

The remaining twin has been transferred to Portsmouth Naval Medical Center.

Both parents appeared early Wednesday in Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court. They are being held without bond, according to Amanda Howie, spokeswoman for the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office. They indicated they intend to hire attorneys and are due back in court April 30.