DCF speaks out on child neglect case

NORTH MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (WSVN) -- New details have been released in the case of a child who was found by police naked and malnourished.

In court Monday, a Juvenile Court judge gave a verbal lashing to the Department of Children and Family for supposedly not catching the signs of abuse in the case of a 9-year-old boy.

Representatives with DCF spoke out Tuesday, defending their department, saying the 9-year-old boy has mental health problems and said a lot of his weight loss occurred in the last two weeks. "I'm in the process now of making sure that we know exactly what happened to this child," said DCF spokesperon Esther Jacobo.

Photos were released in court of the boy, who weighed about 35 pounds. Police said they found him wandering the streets naked and his body covered in bruises.

In December, DCF said, they were called to a house in North Miami Beach to provide mental health services for the family. "The testimony in court was that the weight loss began about two weeks ago, after we were in the home," said Jacobo.

Juvenile Court Judge Cindy Lederman called it an obvious sign of abuse. "This is like a neon sign of abuse. They should have been obvious to anyone," said Lederman.

The case was given to Judge Lederman on Monday to determine where the other siblings will live.

DCF is defending the department. "I can understand the judge's emotional reaction to the photographs, but there was no evidence whatsoever of that," said Jacobo. "We have engaged doctors from the CPT, Child Protection Team, for helping us determine if there was abuse or battery or neglect. We rely on the doctors, who are the experts, to tell us in fact the child was abused."

The two parents have been arrested and charged with abuse.

DCF will return to court on Feb. 8 to present their investigation.

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