A 13-year-old Wyoming boy who was not seen in school for about a month was found allegedly starved and seriously injured by his parents, authorities said.
The boy’s mother, Kandace Van Fleet, 33, and his stepfather, Truman Sittingeagle, 36, are being charged with assault and aggravated child abuse after they allegedly abused the boy and left him in a locked room without food, according to court documents obtained by HuffPost.
According to a sworn statement by an FBI special agent investigating the case, investigation began on Dec. 12 when a school resource officer conducted a welfare check on the boy’s home.
Authorities said he was not seen in school for almost a month, and the resource officer had previously made several welfare checks to the boy’s home, but was unable to locate him.
During the latest welfare check, the officer ran into the boy’s stepfather and demanded to see him, the document stated.
Sittingeagle initially told the officer his stepson was not home. He eventually relented and said he was in a crawl space underneath the home.
The resource officer noticed the boy had lost a “significant amount of weight since he was last at school” and had visible injuries. The boy was taken to the hospital.
According to the court documents, during an interview with the boy, he said he had “a bad habit” of “stealing food and hiding it in his room.” When his parents found out, they allegedly put a lock on his door and screwed the window shut. And if the parents “would find wrappers or food, they would hit [him].”
The documents describe Sittingeagle several times putting the boy in chokeholds until he fell asleep, and hitting him when he would wake up.
Further medical examination found that the boy suffered other serious injuries including a ruptured testicle.
Three of the boy’s half siblings confessed that their parents allegedly hit him, with one saying he couldn’t walk sometimes, authorities said.
The parents are set to appear in court Friday.