A mom and father in Clinton, Missouri discover themselves on the unsuitable aspect of the legislation after bringing their 4-year-old son to Golden Valley Memorial Hospital on June 17, 2025.

Patricia L. Siercks, 34, and Joshua J. Gusman, 32, have each been accused of kid abuse and are behind bars after their son was decided by medical doctors to be “inside days of deadly organ failure.”

His mom claimed his emaciated stature was as a result of he was a “choosy” eater, however his father painted a a lot darker image of what was allegedly occurring behind closed doorways.

Personnel on the hospital made the decision to achieve out to legislation enforcement after observing accidents to the boy’s face and bruising on his again, per the possible trigger affidavit, offering photos to responding officers of the alleged accidents.

The responding officer then examined the boy personally, observing him to be “very skinny,” per the affidavit, and noting bruising on each side of his temple/eye space, in addition to a scratch underneath his left eye. He additionally described the 4-year-old as “unable to speak.”

The hospital personnel additionally supplied for the officer a “progress chart” for the sufferer, which confirmed that at two years previous, on December 2, 2022, he weighed 22.26 kilos. Then, on June 4, 2025 and at 4 years previous, he weighed in at solely 23.12 kilos.

That is lower than a single pound enhance in two-and-a-half years. Additional, so as to be within the ninetieth percentile for weight at his age, he ought to weigh almost twice that, with the expansion chart recommending he be 44 kilos.

The officer particulars within the affidavit talking to Siercks about what was noticed with reference to her son. Regarding the facial bruising, Siercks reportedly mentioned that she grew “annoyed, indignant” at an appointment two weeks prior when her son “threw a match” and so she “slapped and punched [him] within the face.”

She mentioned she first slapped him on the left aspect of his face together with her proper hand after which closing that hand right into a fist, she mentioned she punched that very same aspect of his face within the temple/eye space, per the affidavit. As for the bruising on his proper aspect, Siercks informed police that was from “falling over a toy.”

With regard to his bodily stature, Siercks informed the officer that he had no deficiencies. She additional mentioned she spent $400 on meals, however that the boy is “choosy” about what he eats.

When requested about how underweight he’s, she mentioned that in November 2024, she was ordered to complement his meals with PediaSure to assist with heathy weight acquire. After 4 months, although, she mentioned she stopped giving him the PediaSure as a result of “it was all [he] wished to have.”

In line with the expansion chart for the sufferer, he gained 6.8 kilos in the course of the time he was on the product. Within the following three months after Siercks began denying him PediaSure, he dropped 5.7 kilos.

On June 30, the police had been once more contacted regarding the boy, this time by social employees at Kids’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas Metropolis. The reported that the sufferer was being admitted as a result of his ongoing low weight and a regarding “coronary heart rhythm, cased by malnutrition,” per the arrest affidavit.

The sufferer was recognized with Refeeding Syndrome, a “doubtlessly deadly metabolic response that happens when malnourished folks resume feeding too rapidly.” This syndrome, police reported within the affidavit, can have an effect on a number of organ programs, together with the guts — as medical doctors had been seeing with the sufferer’s coronary heart rhythm — and result in multi-system organ failure and even loss of life.

Docs at the moment felt that the boy was “inside days of deadly organ failure,” per the affidavit. In addition they recognized the sufferer with “acute childhood torture, long-term hunger, imbalanced electrolytes as a result of dehydration, and stunted progress,” per NBC affiliate KSHB.

Within the days after the boy’s admission to the hospital, his mother and father had been arrested. Siercks was arrested July 1, with Gusman picked up the following day. After receiving his Miranda rights, Gusman initially denied there was any abuse to police, per Legislation & Crime.

As reported by CBS affiliate KCTV, although, Gusman finally admitted that he’d seen the sufferer “positioned right into a canine crate whereas the household ate dinner and the sufferer was not supplied any meals.”

He additionally alleged that Siercks had been abusing the boys for about two years, claiming that he had on a couple of event heard a commotion in one other room solely to stroll in and see her “assaulting” their son. At these instances, he mentioned he would intervene and cease it.

Siercks has been charged with two counts of abuse of a kid, in keeping with courtroom information. Gusman has been charged with abuse of a kid (severe emotional or bodily harm) and endangering the welfare of a kid.

Siercks might withstand 22 years behind bars if convicted on each costs, per KCTV, whereas Gusman could possibly be sentenced to a most of 25 years. The couple stays in custody on the Henry Rely Jail, the place they’re each being held with out bond.