Parents charged after Tacoma man with autism found emaciated and severely ill
A Tacoma couple has been accused of neglecting to care for their 21-year-old autistic son, who was found severely ill and weighing only 75 pounds.
Pierce County prosecutors on Wednesday charged the 44-year-old father and 42-year-old stepmother with first-degree criminal mistreatment. They are scheduled to be arraigned Oct. 9.
The victim functions at the level of a first or second grader and is dependent on others for his care.
Charging papers give this account:
Police and paramedics were called to the family’s home June 14, 2018, after the son fell and stopped breathing.
“The victim was emaciated and fire personal believed the circumstances were suspicious,” records say.
At 5-feet-8, doctors said the victim should weigh at least 155 pounds and expressed concern that he weighed 75 pounds.
The man was also suffering from pneumonia and a blood infection, among other infections.
He had not been seen by a medical professional since November 2017 when records listed his weight as 130 pounds.
His stepmother allegedly admitted they had not taken their son out of the home since the summer of 2017 when he was taken for a walk.
The victim was given up to 1.5 cups of rice and broth for his meals, records say.
“Both defendants admitted that they had not taken the victim for medical care recently, or when he got sick, or when they noticed the weight loss,” prosecutors wrote in charging documents.
The victim was released from the hospital to a care facility in August 2018. By January, his weight was up to 157 pounds.
Officials said nobody from the victim’s family brought him clothing, and his father only visited twice in more than a year, once shortly after his son was admitted and once on Thanksgiving.
“The facility has called the father when the victim needs something and he does not respond,” records say.
This story was originally published September 26, 2019 at 10:04 AM.
