Malnourished Teen Indiana - A 15-year-old teenage girl, described to be almost 'skeleton' like, has been hospitalized earlier this week after being found locked in a room in an Inidianapolis home. The malnourished teen in Indiana was admitted to the hospital for severe malnutrition and currently remains in critical condition, according to an Anderson police spokesman.
The people responsible for the malnourished teen in Indiana were her own grandparents. The husband and wife are now behind bars after what police describes as "severely" neglecting the state of their mentally disabled granddaughter.
The room with the malnourished teen in Indiana was reportedly filled with feces, contains a filthy mattress, blankets, a space heater, a bucket, and a bowl with oatmeal. Police also found blood on the floor.
In a WTHITV News report, the malnourished Indiana teen was said to be so emaciated that she weighed only 40 pounds. Her bones were also seen protruding from her flesh.
"She was a skeleton," said Anderson police Detective Joel Sandefur. "I don't think people understand. She was starved."
"Fifteen-year-old girl that weighs less than 40 pounds, that's hard for us to believe that this is because of a medical condition," he added.
Police also said the condition of the malnourished teen in Indiana is worsening despite having been taken to the hospital, to the point that she might not survive. Police said the crime happened in a home in the 3400 block of Forrest Terrace. The teen had been padlocked in a room whilst living in her own filth, according to WTHI TV.
The grandfather of the malnourished teen in Indiana, 58-year-old Steve Sells, 54, was arrested by police Monday. His wife, Joetta Sells, was also arrested, but on Tuesday evening. She was put into custody after being brought in for questioning.
The couple is now facing neglect charges. However, Joetta also is reportedly facing a battery charge as well. Both have not been formally charged.
Neighbor Stacy Rayford lives just a few houses away from where the mentally disabled and malnourished teen in Indiana was kept locked. She told WTHITV News that she had no inkling that such a crime was going on inside the Forrest Terrace home.
"It's very disgraceful. As a parent I couldn't imagine," said Rayford. "I mean, and had I known it was it going on, (police) would had gotten a call much sooner."
In court documents, police said there was poor heating, blood on the floor, and feces on everything inside the room where the malnourished teen in Indiana was kept. The documents also show there to be a mattress, space heater, blankets, bowl of oatmeal, and a bucket in the room.
A 4-year-old child who was also living in the home said the teen would at times stick her fingers around the door to try to get out. It also said in the court documents that the child told police the teen was physically abused wherein she would be dragged by her hair.
The 4-year-old was already removed from the home by the Indiana Department of Child Services, according to USA Today.
"If you see the pictures of the victim, it's very disturbing," said Sandefur. "We wouldn't accept treatment of an animal this way, let alone a human being, let alone someone that's 15 years of age."
Police responded to the case of the malnourished teen Indiana case after a call saying the abused teen was taken to St. Vincent Regional Hospital in Anderson on Monday. According to authorities, her condition was so bad that medical staff had her airlifted to Peyton Manning Children's Hospital in Indianapolis.
"It's disgusting, it makes me feel like, why would you want to do that to your child," said another neighbour named Wyteria Woods.
Steve Sells reportedly gained custody of the malnourished teen in Indiana, his own granddaughter, after his daughter, the biological mother, abandoned her in 2009. He told police that the teen had a "chromosome problem in her brain which caused her disorder" and that she had fallen already, which worsened her condition.
Superintendent of the Anderson Community School Corp., Terry Thompson, said the couple withdrew the malnourished teen in Indiana from public school "after Oct. 12, 2010," for homeschooling.
DCS officials filed an "action" in court against the Sellses in 2011. However, they later asked the judge to dismiss it, reports USA Today.
While Sells admitted to locking his granddaughter in the room, he defended himself saying it was to "protect himself" from her because she was very strong and that she had once come at him with a knife. Sells weighs more than 200 pounds.
The teen was fed by Sells with Boost, which was paid for by Medicaid. The malnourished teen hasn't had a medical exam since Jan. 2012. Her Medicaid already ran out a year ago and she hasn't been fed with the medicine since.
Sells will reportedly be arraigned Friday, though no court date has yet been set for his wife. Detectives are now looking into the victim's medical records to see whether she was given really provided the opportunity to go to school.
The malnourished teen in Indiana currently remains at Peyton Manning Children's Hospital in Indianapolis. She is being treated for severe malnutrition and is in critical condition. If in case she does not survive, possible the charges against Sells and his wife could become more severe, according to the Inquisitr.
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