Elisabet Estrada (Photo: Chambersburg Police Department)
CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. – A Pennsylvania woman is facing charges after Franklin County Children and Youth Services notified police of an “extremely malnourished” 16-year-old boy.
Elisabet Estrada, 41, is charged with felony counts of aggravated assault and child endangerment, according to court documents.
Police in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, responded to a home to assist Children and Youth Services in the early hours of Oct. 24, according to documents just released by the municipal court.
A 16-year-old boy was admitted to Hershey Medical Center, weighing just 26 pounds. Children and Youth responded to the address to check the welfare of siblings and set up a “safety plan,” if necessary.
The other children “appeared to be in good general health,” according to court records.
The teen was “very frail, gaunt, ribs extremely evident and ravenously hungry,” court documents read.
He was emaciated and “laid in bed in the fetal position in a way that appeared as though he didn’t have the ability to stretch out in his bed,” according to police.
Police noted the victim was developmentally delayed and nonverbal.
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Victim weighed 45 pounds at time of discharge
Children and Youth Services reported the mother hadn’t used any therapy or early intervention services since 2005.
The child “ruminated his food,” as if he didn’t have the ability to get food at home. When he had food, he regurgitated and re-ate it, according to police.
Estrada called the genetics testing personnel at Hershey Medical Center and stated that her son “has no medical issues that require hospitalization,” according to court documents.
She insisted she “did everything” for her son and didn’t understand why she couldn’t treat him at home. Police noted Estrada “voiced anger” at the genetics specialist that was treating her son.
As a result of the appointment, the teen was immediately admitted into an acute care setting. Estrada said she didn’t understand why she didn’t have a choice in the matter.
She reported that she did not have a primary care provider for her son. The children were home-schooled, and it appeared as though her son “had limited interaction outside of the mother and three other children,” police said.
Estrada told Children and Youth Service that she received medical services for her son throughout his life from Early Intervention Services, March of Dimes, Keystone Peds and Hershey Medical Center.
The victim remained at Hershey Medical Center from Oct. 23 to Dec. 2. He gained 2.2 pounds during his first two days and weighed 45 pounds at the time of his discharge, according to court records.
Throughout the course of this investigation, police contacted a doctor with Penn State Hershey Medical Center. It was her medical opinion that the teen’s condition was due to malnutrition and medical neglect since the mother “failed to seek appropriate medical care from an early age until he was 16 years of age and failed to appropriately feed him,” according to court documents.
The doctor informed police that the victim grew in both height and weight while under medical care, “simply because he was receiving appropriate nutrition.”
Estrada was put in Franklin County Jail on Jan. 17 on $25,000 bail.
She is scheduled to appear before Magisterial District Judge Glenn Manns for a preliminary hearing Jan. 28.
Follow reporter Carley Bonk on Twitter at @carls_marie.
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