A malnourished Indiana teen was found in her grandparents house locked in a room, living in her own feces.
Steve Sells and his wife Joetta Sells, who are the grandparents of a mentally disabled 15-year-old, were charged for neglecting the teen.
The unnamed teen weighed only 40 pounds when she was brought to a hospital where she arrived in serious condition. Police told WTHI-TV the girl was so malnourished her bones were protruding from her flesh.
"If you see the pictures of the victim, it's very disturbing," Detective Joel Sandefur, Anderson Police Department, said to WTHI-TV. "We wouldn't accept treatment of an animal this way, let alone a human being, let alone someone that's 15 years of age."
Steve Sells blamed his granddaughters condition on a "chromosome problem in her brain which caused her disorder," adding that a recent fall worsened her condition.
"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," Det. Sandefur said to WTHI-TV.
Apparently Sells decided to lock his granddaughter, who he gained custody over when her biological mother (Sells' daughter) abandoned the teen, to "protect himself" from her, according to court documents. Sells, who told police he weighs over 200 pounds, felt threatened by his teenaged granddaughter because she is strong and has came at him with a knife in the past.
The teenager was fed Boost, which was paid for by Medicaid, but Sells stopped feeding it to her last year when the Medicaid ran out, according to court documents. This hospital visit where she was discovered severely underweight was her first doctors visit since July 2012.
Sells, who was charged with neglect, will be arraigned on Friday. There is no set date yet for his wife, but after questioning by police she was arrested on neglect and battery charges.
