Their Teens Locked Up For Months Without Food and Left on the Brink of Death | the Chronicle

A horrific case of abuse of three minors generates shock and anger in St Lucia County, Florida, USA.

The three teenagers, two 16-year-old twins and a 17-year-old, spent hours locked in a room with very little food.

“The details are disturbing and some of the most frightening examples of child neglect that I have heard from in my 26 years in the police force.”said the deputy chief Brian hester, from the St. Lucia County Sheriff’s Office, where the case came from an anonymous intelligence on February 10 and added: “The call alleged that three of five children in a home in Port St. Lucie were severely malnourished and abused.”Hester said.

“Our investigation concluded that there was a chain lock outside the room shared by the three victims and that these teenagers weighed well below the accepted norm for their age,” Hester said.

Arrested officers Oscar Torres, 40 years old, and his wife, Brittany Leanne Kirschenhofer, 32 years old. Officers found two other children at the home, aged 6 and 9. One is Kirschenhofer’s son.

“Obviously, these two children were not neglected or abused and treated very differently,” Hester said. And I add: “Torres said she worked long shifts and Kirschenhofer was a stay-at-home mom who was left in charge of the family thanks to virtual school in the wake of the pandemic. “

A teenager was taken to hospital because he weighed around 25 kilograms and was hallucinating, with loss of verbal communication, muscle control and other bodily functions.

“All medical evaluations have confirmed that this condition was a direct result of malnutrition and required a feeding tube to try to gradually bring the child back to the level of nutrition appropriate for his age.”Hester said.

Authorities removed the children from the home on February 22. All three are now in the safe custody of their birth mother, who was unaware of the abuse and was isolated from the family for several years. The parents were arrested.