The 7-year-old Hardwick boy who
fell into a coma two weeks ago after his father allegedly starved and dehydrated him had been kept alone in his bedroom, placed on a strict, sugarless diet that sharply restricted fluids, and forced to stay home from school as punishment for misbehavior, according to new court documents.
Randall Lints, who is accused of critically abusing the boy, did not allow his son to be in the living room where three other children in the home watched television and played video games, and had placed an alarm on the boy’s bedroom door to alert him if he left, police said. Police said that Lints may also have monitored his son’s room with a camera that could be accessed with his cellphone.
The disturbing new details, disclosed this week in court records, shed light on the boy’s harsh home life and the circumstances that led to his hospitalization July 14. When the boy arrived, he weighed just 38 pounds, and a doctor said he had lost about 15 pounds in recent months. He had been badly bruised, especially on the head, and his feet appeared to have been burned, court records show.
A social worker with the state’s child protection agency
visited the boy’s home in late June, just two weeks before he was hospitalized, raising questions about whether the boy should have been taken into state custody for protection. The father and his son had also been seen three times this month by staff from an authorized service provider, according to the state’s Department of Children & Families.
The disturbing new details, disclosed this week in court records, shed light on the boy’s harsh home life and the circumstances that led to his hospitalization July 14. When the boy arrived, he weighed just 38 pounds, and a doctor said he had lost about 15 pounds in recent months. He had been badly bruised, especially on the head, and his feet appeared to have been burned, court records show.
In an interview with police on July 14, the day the boy was hospitalized, Lints’s girlfriend, Alexandrea Chadwick, said the 7-year-old boy has significant behavioral issues and a history of injuring himself.
Because of the boy’s behavior, Lints was strict, limiting sugar intake and putting him on a strict daily schedule.
Lints limited his son’s fluid intake because he was prone to urinating in his clothes and on the floor, Chadwick said.
As punishment, Lints would make him clean the floor by hand and stay in his room.
Doctors said the boy’s knees and hands were injured from exposure to bleach.
Chadwick could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
If his son had no clean clothes, he was not allowed to go to school, police said. As punishment, he was not allowed to do his homework.
Loiselle told the Globe she noticed her son was getting thinner and knew “things weren’t OK.” The Globe is not naming the boy to protect his privacy.
The boy had been living with his grandmother until June 2014, when Lints was granted sole custody. Lints assumed custody after learning the boy’s grandmother planned to adopt him, Loiselle told police.
On Sunday, Loiselle told the Globe her son remains in a coma, but has shown signs of improvement.