A Wisconsin father pleaded guilty this week to neglecting his 15-year-old daughter, who weighed just 58 pounds when medics were called to the home for an emergency nearly two years ago.
Tristan Hull, 40, will return to court for sentencing his October, according to the Wassau Daily Herald. The girl’s stepmother, Brittany Hull, 33, has pleaded not guilty and is scheduled for trial in February.
Criminal complaints say that a deputy followed up on the medical emergency call for the girl on October 15, 2023, and found medics performing CPR in an ambulance. After about 25 minutes, the girls was taken to a hospital for further treatment.
Tristan Hull reportedly told the deputy that the girl drank a protein shake and then began having trouble breathing, began to gargle, and could not swallow, a criminal complaint says. Hull further said the girl had stopped growing about two to three years earlier and had a history of health problems, although he only identified a condition that caused poor blood circulation.
A detective was later assigned to the case, following up at Marshfield Medical Center, where the girl had been taken. Staff there said the teen’s organs had begun to fail because of severe dehydration and that malnutrition had caused bone marrow failure. Tests ruled out any medical condition that could cause her supposed failure to thrive and also found no behavioral problems.
A doctor said the girl was 32 pounds below normal weight and 5 inches below normal height for a girl her age and said that severe malnutrition could account for the lack of growth.
Detectives spoke to a pastor who ran a children’s program where the girl had previously attended. The pastor said he believed the girl was being abused, although he apparently never reported his suspicions. He said the girl came to classes at the program and would struggle because she was “literally starving.”
The pastor said the teen would “inhale” snacks given her by a teacher and that she would take food and hide in a part of the building to eat it where her stepmother couldn’t see her, the complaint said.
The children were homeschooled, so there are no reports from their schools.
The girl gained nearly 5 pounds in her first week in the hospital and had no problem eating. She told the detective that the Hulls would not let her eat breakfast or snacks and that she got in trouble if she ate outside her proscribed meal time. She said she was put at a table in the living room for most of the day and not allowed to eat with the rest of the family. She was only allowed lunch at dinner time and another meal just before bed time. She was also limited to 16 ounces of water per day.
According to the complaint, the detective found locks on the girl’s bedroom door and her windows. The door also had a working alarm on it, and books were taped to her mattress that would force her to sleep in a certain position. She had no bedding or blankets.
Additionally, videos from a security camera in the teen’s bedroom showed the Hulls forcing her to stand with her hands up in the air for hours at a time, with them ordering her to raise her hands higher while she shook and cried.
In the course of the investigation, Brittany Hull told investigators that she had worked with a nutritionist for a diet plan to help with the girl’s “brain function” from her alleged attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, but the Hulls did not follow the plan. Doctors discovered no problems with the child’s brain functions or any other problems as described by her stepmother.
Tristan Hull posted a $50,000 bond on August 5 and is allowed supervised phone and video calls with his three children, according to the Wausau Pilot & Review. Brittany Hull remains behind bars with a $50,000 bond. She had initially pleaded not guilty by mental deficiency, but after the results of mental health evaluation came in, she changed her plea to simply not guilty.
Court documents say the girl has improved since the abuse was discovered but did not say where she is now. The other children did not show any signs of malnutrition.
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[Featured image: Brittany Hull and Tristan Hull/Marathon County Jail]
