Police: Child's Malnourishment & Abuse Was 'Severe'

NORTH MIAMI BEACH – (CBS4) – A day after a mother and father appeared in court to face charges that they severely abused their 9-year-old son, child advocates and experts are looking into what went wrong.

The abuse, which they say went on for a long time, has finally come to an end for the young boy. Police say the child is now alive, eating and talking to investigators.

Some say it's a miracle the child has survived and a picture shown in court shows the child's frail legs, his thin frame weighing in at 35 pounds – the average weight of a 3 to 5 year old child.

"He looks like he came from Auschwitz," said juvenile court Judge Cindy Lederman. "This does not happen in a month."

A therapist also testified at the child custody hearing that the boy "self mutilates and eats his own skin."

On the night of January 28th, police say the 9-year-old boy jumped from the rear window of his house in the 14-hundred block of NE 152 Street, to escape his alleged abusers.

"It hits the department very hard," said North Miami Beach Police Director Tom Carney. "This is one of the most severe cases we have ever seen."

North Miami Beach Police arrested Marsee "Redd" Strong, 34, and charged her with two counts of aggravated abuse and neglect of a child.

In addition, Edward Bailey, 39, was arrested for his alleged part in the case and faces two counts of aggravated abuse and child neglect.

According to police, Strong admitted to failing to protect her child from others and "not properly supervising him and getting him medical treatment in a timely manner;" but denied physically abusing the kid. She did not dispute that bruising covered most of the child's body.

Bailey told police that he didn't abuse his son, but "allows other to do so without his intervention."

The child attended school at Greynolds Park Elementary and Miami-Dade Public Schools Communications Officer John Schuster said in a written statement that school officials did everything required under the law to alert the Department of Children and Families.

"Under Florida Statute 39.201, as well as School Board policy, employees are required to report known or suspected child abuse, abandonment, or neglect," Schuster wrote a written statement to CBS4 News. "In this particular case, school district staff complied with our reporting guidelines and alerted authorities at the Department of Children and Families by contacting the Florida Abuse Registry on December 6, 2011. This has been a very sad and regrettable case."

DCF Regional Managing Director Esther Jacobo sat down with CBS4 Chief Investigator Michele Gillen to talk about the case.

"We need to do an investigation to determine what occurred in this case," Jacobo said.

Jacobo did say the family had been visited by DCF in the past, but declined to give specifics.

For now, the child and his five siblings are believed to be under the care of an uncle, Joseph Lee.