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SALT LAKE CITY — A Midvale couple was charged Thursday with child abuse after police say their two children were found severely malnourished.
Antoine Torrez Scott, 27, and Andrea Kendrick, 26, are charged in 3rd District Court with two counts of child abuse, a second-degree felony.
In September, the couple took their children, ages 10 months and 18 months, to the doctor for a routine physical exam. They "expressed concern about (the 18-month-old's) ribs sticking out," according to charging documents.
The doctor who examined the children determined that both were "profoundly malnourished and classified both children as failure to thrive due to lack of food being provided," the charges state. The doctor said he was worried about "refeeding syndrome" and told the parents to take their children to the hospital "to ensure their safety."
When the doctor learned that the couple had not gone to the hospital, he contacted the Division of Child and Family Services.
A couple of days later, Unified police accompanied division workers to Scott and Kendrick's residence and found both children were "severely malnourished and extremely lethargic," the charges state.
Court records do not indicate why investigators believe the children were not being fed.
This is the second case of child abuse due to malnourishment that the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office has filed in three weeks.
Loren D. Campbell, 23, and Julia Campbell, 24, were charged in January with child abuse, a second-degree felony, when doctors found their 10-month-old child weighed just 9 pounds, according to court records.
A reason for that child's malnourishment was also not revealed in court records.
