Trial set for mother of six-year-old who “looked like a skeleton” due to malnourishment

 Trial set for mother of six-year-old who “looked like a skeleton” due to malnourishment

Larry Statser

18 hours ago

WICHITA FALLS (KFDX/KJTL) — After a six-year-old boy was discovered to weigh 15 pounds from severe malnutrition and neglect and was described as “looking like a skeleton,” a trial date has been set for his mother.

Catherine Jarvey was indicted on two counts in January 2023: Injury to a child and child exploitation.

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Her jury trial has now been set for Monday, August 5, 2024, in the 89th District Court. Jarvey was arrested in October 2022 after police went to a Wichita Falls motel on a welfare check and found Jarvey there with her son and 10-year-old daughter.

Officers reported the boy’s rib cage was curved inward and askew, his head was misshapen and he suffered from severe curvature of the spine. Jarvey told police the victim had a number of medical issues that caused his appearance.

The victim was later transported to Cook Children’s Hospital in Fort Worth, where he was later reported to be gaining weight and doing well.

Police said Jarvey told them she hadn’t taken her son to the doctor since 2019, though her daughter had received regular health care exams and was described as a normal 10-year-old girl.

Police said at the time of that appointment, the boy weighed 21 pounds.

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Jarvey was also charged with exploitation after it was discovered she was receiving social security funds and food stamps. Police reportedly had cause to believe the additional funds and food stamps were not being used for the victim, but the nutritional and medical needs for herself, her daughter and her dogs were being met.

Jarvey is jailed on $70,000 bonds and appealed in a letter to the judge for a personal recognizance bond so she could “Get out, get a job and get my life in order again.”

She said she had asked her public defender to file for a plea deal and PR Bond, but he has done neither. Several months before the letter was sent, her attorney filed notification that the state was not making any plea deal in this case, and the deadline had expired.

She made an offer for 10 years probation, saying she had never been in trouble before and should be given a chance to live outside of jail walls. She said if given probation, she would go to the shelter, get a job and work hard.

The next hearing in this case is set for Thursday, February 8, to hear defense motions.

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