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An Idaho couple was found guilty of starving their five-year-old adopted daughter in court Wednesday, the Idaho Statesman reported.
Gwendalyn and Byron Buthman were convicted of injury to a child and an enhancement of infliction of great bodily injury, both felonies, according to the Ada County Prosecutor’s Office, the Idaho Statesman reported. The couple abused their adopted five-year-old daughter, identified as E.B. by court records, between October 2015 and March 2018, according to the outlet. The five-year-old experienced a heart attack because of the abuse.
The couple’s adopted child, E.B., was fed only vegetable protein powder, slept in their laundry room on a thin mat without blankets and was isolated from the rest of the family, the outlet indicated. In addition, the child was forced to pick up dog poop as a chore and was instructed to urinate outside in a bucket after being required to drink five to six 16.9-ounce bottles of water a day. (RELATED: Additional Charges Brought Against Parents In Alleged Murder Of 8-Year-Old Son)
NEW: An Idaho girl was 5 years old when she suffered a heart attack because of a lack of care from her then-guardians. Now, she is “thriving.”
That moment came during the trial of Gwendalyn and Byron Buthman, who were found guilty of two felonies.https://t.co/Ka0j3afZe2
— alex brizee 🇨🇺🇺🇸 (@alex_brizee) June 23, 2022
The child experienced the cardiac event in October 2017 after she was forced to use the bathroom outside and collapsed on the grass, the Idaho Statesman reported. The child was taken to the hospital following the incident but still did not receive regular meals, the outlet reported.
The child was seen by several doctors and a nutritionist while the abuse was occurring, yet none of them reported any concerns, the couple’s attorney said according to the Idaho Press. In addition to E.B., the couple had four other adopted children, the outlet reported.
The couple was originally arrested in March 2019, KTVB 7 reported. Their trial was supposed to take place in September 2019 but was delayed due to both postponements and judge reassignments, KTVB 7 reported. They are set to be sentenced this September, according to the outlet.