“10-year-old boy rescued by police after ordeal of starvation and abuse by parents”

Friday, May 12, in a neighborhood of Griffin (Georgia). Concerned residents called the police after spotting a child in an alarming condition wandering barefoot in the street. Approached by the officers, the young boy seemed hungry and confused. He explained to them that he was looking for a grocery store where he could beg for food. When asked where he lived, the child pleaded with the officers: “Please don’t make me go back there.” The authorities did not take long to take the measure of the ordeal that the boy had lived.

A quick investigation has indeed determined that his parents, Tyler and Krista Schindley, have been making him live through hell since 2020. They intentionally starved him and inflicted physical and psychological violence on him, sometimes in front of their four other children. The victim, who was neither the youngest nor the oldest of the siblings, was locked in a room “for long periods and regularly, without light, food, clothing, interaction with others or assistance from an adult”, explains a court document. Tyler and Krista Schindley, 46 and 47 respectively, are also accused of failing to treat a serious dental injury from which their son suffered.

He weighed only 16 kilos

The Schindleys together ran a spa in the area. The owners of the establishment published a press release on Facebook to dissociate themselves from them. They were arrested shortly after the escape of the child, who weighed only 16 kilos. The young boy was hospitalized and treated for severe malnutrition and a low heart rate. ‘We won’t be posting any photos of this child for obvious reasons, but I can tell you they are absolutely horrific and anyone with a human heart who looks at them should be shaken to their core’ said prosecutor Marie Broder at a press conference.

According to authorities, the other siblings were home-schooled but were not victims of abuse. They were turned over to social services. The two forties were indicted for extreme cruelty to a child, attempted murder and forcible confinement. Their request for bail was denied on Wednesday, according to Fox News. “As a mother, this is beyond me. As a human being, this breaks my heart. I sincerely believe that if he had not left this house, this case would not have taken the same turn,” added the prosecutor.