Editor's note: This story contains graphic descriptions of alleged child abuse.
The parents of a four-year-old boy are charged in Henry County court with abuse of a child after the boy was found to weigh 23 pounds and doctors thought he was days from fatal organ failure.
The father of the boy, Joshua Gusman, 32, faces abuse of a child (serious emotional or physical injury) and endangering the welfare of a child.
The child's mother, Patricia Siercks, 30, is charged with two counts of abuse of a child, according to court records.
Clinton, Missouri, police officers were sent in June to Golden Valley Hospital on a report of child abuse.
Photos showed injuries to the boy's face and back.
When Siercks was asked about the boy's emaciated condition, she said he had no deficiencies, according to a court document.
She also said she spent $400 on food, but the victim was "picky." A doctor ordered her in November 2024 to provide him with Pediasure to help him gain weight. Siercks told police she stopped after three months because it was all the victim wanted to have, the court document states.
Siercks said the bruising on the child's face happened two weeks before when she punched him after the child allegedly threw a fit at an appointment.
Gusman told police in an interview that he did not know about abuse or lack of feeding, according to the court document.
A police sergeant was told by a Children's Division investigator that Gusman admitted to "seeing the victim placed in a dog crate while the family ate dinner and was not provided any food," the court document states.
He also said the abuse had been going on since the boy was two years old.
Doctors diagnosed the child with acute childhood torture, long-term starvation, imbalanced electrolytes due to dehydration and stunted growth, a court document states.
Both parents were in the Henry County Jail on Thursday night.
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