A Florida stepfather has been arrested in connection with a child-abuse case in which a severely neglected 5-year-old victim was discovered weighing just under 25 pounds.
Brian Hall, 29, who is married to the child’s mother, Naomi Hall, is accused of doing nothing to help the abused child. The boy’s mother was arrested in the case last week but posted bond and was released.
According to WFTV, Department of Children and Families investigators went to the Halls’ Daytona Beach home on June 28, where they discovered the 5-year-old on the living room floor. The young boy was extremely thin, seemed to be dehydrated and was trying to eat cereal scraps from the carpet.
The news station notes that a report detailed that the child’s hands and feet were orange and that he had peeling skin and blisters.
Naomi Hall reportedly admitted to investigators that she did not give the child, who has special needs, his prescribed medications and acknowledged that he went without food for three to four days at a time. Hall told investigators that she made no effort to feed the small child.
The 5-year-old was not able to speak or stand, and weighed in at just 24.9 pounds, so underweight that he did not even register on the growth chart.
Naomi Hall, who is facing charges of child neglect causing great harm, also told the investigator that she would realize the boy was hungry when he would try to “chew on his hands” or by his facial expressions, since he was never taught to speak or communicate, according to police.The report indicated that the child never received any education.
When asked about the horrific treatment of the young boy, Brian Hall reportedly told investigators, “He is not my responsibility; I’m not his father. I come from a rich and white family.”
There is a special place in hell for some people, I swear.
Brian Hall reportedly went so far as to point at the two other children living in the home who are his and said, “Those two are taken care of.”
He is currently facing charges of failure to report suspected child abuse or neglect. The other children were taken into custody by DCF.
As for the 5-year-old, he remains in an intensive care unit, where he is getting physical and speech therapy.
Somehow, despite all that the 5-year-old had been through, a judge agreed to allow Naomi Hall supervised visitation with the child at the hospital. Hall, who was released on $35,000 bond, appeared at her husband’s hearing in support of him. Brian Hall was also ultimately granted bond at $5,000.
Read more at WFTV.