Parents of 9-year-old boy with special needs who died weighing 17 pounds and was found locked in his ‘feces-covered room’ are charged with MURDER

01 Oct, 2014 by McGuire

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Babies are the greatest gift that God gives you. You get to create, love and hold your special little person that you helped create. You teach them to fly and how to be free. Even later in life, they come back from college, wanting Mom’s hugs and kisses, special meals, and Dad’s advice. Sadly, not all parents care about their children the way that most do. My child has special needs, and this horrifying story of what these parents did to their little one is beyond my grasp. Background story here is from The Daily Mail:

Baby Jarrod, Diagnosed with Fragile X

Kim Tutko, Mother

Jarrod Tutko, Father

Jarrod’s Feces-Covered Room, where his decomposing body was found.

Another child’s room in the home, kept perfectly neat

A husband and wife have been charged in the death of their 9-year-old son, whose decomposing body was found in a ‘feces-covered room’ in their home this past August.

Police filed criminal homicide charges earlier today against Kimberly A. Tutko and Jarrod N. Tutko Sr., of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, saying their neglect caused the death of their son Jarrod Jr.

Jarrod Jr., who was diagnosed with Fragile X syndrome as an infant, weighed just 17 pounds at the time of his death, and had been locked in his bedroom by his parents.

Dauphin County District Attorney Ed Marsico said Monday that Jarrod Jr. was in what he called a horrible condition at the time of his death in July.

‘To think of this young boy in that room day in and day out, locked in there like an animal, left to fend without food, without nourishment,’ Marsico told WHTM-TV.

‘It’s as horrific a case as we can imagine for someone that innocent.’

A 10-year-old girl who was close to death was also found in the home and needed urgent medical attention.

Authorities allege that both parents failed to provide ‘even the most basic needs’ of the child.

Jarrod Jr. suffered from a range of developmental problems including learning disabilities and cognitive impairment as a result of his syndrome.

According to The Patriot-News the couple, who have six children between the ages of three and 13, have a lengthy, and chilling, history with Children and Youth services.

Kimberly, 39, also has three children from her first marriage she gave up her parental rights to.

Jarrod Jr. was taken from his parents custody multiple times over the course of his life, and when, in 2005, a doctor advised Jarrod Sr., 38, to take his son to the hospital because of his ‘history of losing weight and developmental delays,’ he said ‘No’ and hung up the phone according to court records.

Another court document states that a sibling told one case worker who recently visited the home that Jared Jr. had a wet forehead because he ‘had feces on himself which the father had attempted to wash off.’
She also stated, ‘dad doesn’t care about Jarrod Junior anymore,’ according to the complaint.

The room the boy was found in had ‘feces-covered floors and walls, a non-working light, no furniture but a television and a doorknob that locked from the outside.’

Both parents were aware of their son’s deplorable living conditions.

These poor babies. What horrible parents. There are so many waiting to adopt, so many people that would have welcomed these little treasures into their homes with open arms. Children are gifts, they are not for using or abusing. They are humans. To let your baby starve down to 17 lbs. at 9 years old? For those not having children, that is the weight of an average 1 year old, or a large housecat. Normal weight for a 9 year old is 55-65 lbs. This is disgusting. The child should have been cared for and had his special needs met, not living in a feces covered room and ignored while select children were being pampered. The parents left his body to DECOMPOSE – they didn’t even care that he had passed on. Sweet Jarrod Junior, I am so glad you aren’t hurting anymore. I am so sorry you had to suffer so in this world. Rest in Peace, little one.

More info on Fragile X can be found here.