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The mother and father of a developmentally disabled 9-year-old Pennsylvania boy whose decomposed body was discovered in the family’s home nearly a week after he died have been charged in the child’s death, according to reports.
Jarrod Tutko Jr. was about 42 inches tall and weighed just over 16 pounds when he died as a result of starvation and child maltreatment syndrome, television station WPMT reported Monday.
The boy’s body was discovered in a second-floor bathroom of the family’s Harrisburg home on Aug. 1.
“He was dehydrated, malnourished,” Dauphin County District Attorney Ed Marsico said at a news conference on Monday, according to the TV station. “There was dried, caked fecal matter on the bottom of the child’s feet and his hands and fingers nails also had fecal matter on them.”
His parents, Jarrod Tutko Sr. and Kimberly Tutko, both have been charged with criminal homicide and endangering welfare of children, according to WPMT.
Tutko Sr., the boy’s primary caretaker, was arrested shortly after the discovery of the boy’s body. He didn’t alert his wife until the smell of the decomposed body became too strong.
The mother, who police said had a history of child neglect and abuse in New Jersey, was arrested on Monday.
She initially told investigators that she had not seen her son in many years, WPMT reported. She also told them that the boy had apparently been locked in a feces-caked room that had no bed, no working lights, and a door that locked in reverse to keep him in.
Tutko later admitted that she had actually seen him “a day or two” before he died, according to the station.
The boy’s remains were cremated three weeks later. His mother had never even bothered to claim the body, the report stated.
