A judge has issued arrest warrants for a Washington state couple who skipped their sentencing after pleading guilty last month to child mistreatment.
Mary Foxworth, 42, and her husband Anthony Foxworth, 45, were no-shows in Lewis County Superior Court Wednesday. They had been out on bail.
The Centralia couple were accused of severely neglecting a 16-year-old boy in their care between 2007 and 2016.
Court documents show that authorities became aware of the neglect when the Foxworths, who had been raising two boys and a girl, brought the 16-year-old to a hospital in January 2016, telling doctors the teen had not eaten in three weeks.
Wanted: A warrant has been issued for Anthony Foxworth, 45 (left), and Mary Foxworth, 42 (right), after they skipped their sentencing Wednesday in a child neglect case
The teenager was found weighing just 54lbs, was unable to talk or stand on his own. Doctors initially thought he was between eight to 10 years old, and his skeletal age was 13.
Records cited by The Centralia Chronicle show the teen had bald patches on his head and required extensive dental work on 24 of his teeth. A doctor later said the youth was ‘whiter than a piece of paper’ and communicated with grunts rather than words.
The high school-age boy did not know how use the toilet and was wearing pull-up diapers, and was illiterate because he had not been attending school.
At the time, he was diagnosed with severe malnutrition, constipation, an intestinal blockage, anemia and neglect.
‘It doesn’t really get any worse than what we saw in this case,’ Centralia police detective Corey Butcher told the station Q13Fox.
Two other children in the Foxworths’ care – a boy and a girl – were reportedly healthy and were enrolled in school.
After spending a year with a foster family, the 16-year-old has put on 93lbs, grew 3.5inches and was finally attending school.
Butcher said he saw the boy just last week and said he is ‘doing awesome.’
The Foxworths initially denied any wrongdoing, saying the boy was starving himself because he was depressed.
Admission of guilty: In October, Mrs Foxworth (pictured in court) pleaded guilty to criminal mistreatment of a 16-year-old boy in her care who was found last year weighing 54lbs
After initially denying any wrongdoing, Anthony Foxworth also pleaded guilty (pictured)
Last month, the husband and wife each pleaded guilty to first-degree criminal mistreatment. They have been out on $10,000 unsecured bail.
The couple’s defense lawyers, Chris Baum and Jacob Clark, told the judge this week their clients were aware of the sentencing date.
Prosecutors are seeking a 51-month prison sentence for each of them.
On Wednesday, a judge issued no-bail warrants for both Mary and Anthony Foxworth. According to police, they were last seen at a gas station in Grand Mound, Washington, traveling in their green-and-silver 1998 Chevy Suburban with the license plate DP25339.
The couple have ties to multiple states, including Georgia, Oregon, Idaho, California and Louisiana.
Anyone with information on the fugitives’ whereabouts is being asked to call the Centralia Police Department’s detective bureau at 360-330-7614.