Son Gained 20 Pounds In First 11 Days Off Mom's Starvation Diet
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
October 3, 2006

NEWARK, OHIO--School officials are being credited with saving a 16-year-old from starvation at the hands of his mother.

Mildred McMannis, 40, pleaded not guilty last week to charges of domestic abuse and child endangerment.

Her son, Patrick Faller, who has cerebral palsy and an intellectual disability, was taken from the home in late August after school officials contacted authorities to report that the teenager showed up for school with bruises on his face and weighing only 76 pounds.

Police said McMannis admitted feeding the boy only canned vegetable greens because she was worried he might become diabetic like her. Other children in the home said McMannis restricted the boy's diet to punish him.

Faller was hospitalized for 11 days after he was removed from the home, during which time he gained 20 pounds. He has since been placed with foster parents that he likes because "he gets to eat", Assistant County Prosecutor Melinda Seeds told the Columbus Dispatch.

McMannis reportedly told police she did strike her son, but only once and that was because he wouldn't clean up the floor after urinating in his pants.

Related:
"Disabled Newark teen, now recovering, was 76 pounds" (Columbus Dispatch)
http://www.inclusiondaily.com/news/06/red/1002h.htm
"Woman Accused Of Starving Teenage Son" (NBC4i)
http://www.nbc4i.com/news/9927459/detail.html

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Reproduced here under special arrangement with Inclusion Daily Express international disability rights news service.
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