ST. GEORGE, Utah (AP) - The Latest on a woman arrested after a 12-year-old was found locked in a bathroom (all times local):
1:45 p.m.
A lawyer for a southern Utah woman arrested after her dangerously malnourished 12-year-old son was found locked in a filthy bathroom says she didn’t mean for the boy to be hurt but the situation slipped out of her control.
The Deseret News reported Tuesday that defense attorney Edward Flint says the child has special needs and his mother didn’t have the skills or support to properly care for him.
Police say the child was found in early January in a feces-strewn bathroom with one blanket and a few empty cans of beans. The boy was hospitalized and the woman charged with felony child abuse.
Flint says the mother said her son has a medical condition that makes it difficult for her feed him.
Prosecutor Brock Belnap says the investigation is ongoing.
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6 a.m.
Police say donations and well-wishes have poured in for a 12-year-old boy whose mother was arrested after he was found locked in a filthy bathroom and dangerously malnourished.
The Spectrum newspaper in St. George reports that they’ve gotten clothing, toys and monetary donations for the boy. Police say he weighed just 30 pounds and had been kept in the room for at least a year when he was found in early January.
Lt. David Crouse says so many emails have come in, officers have set up a separate address for the case. The donations will be used to hire a lawyer for the child.
The Washington County Children’s Justice Center is also asking for something else: letters and drawings so the boy knows how many people are thinking about him.
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