Victor and Oliafa Ramos refused to comment as they arrived at court Thursday to face criminal charges of endangering the welfare of their 6-year-old son by allowing him to almost starve to death.
"Anyone could see the dire straights this child was in," said Assistant District Attorney Samantha Cauffman. "They were not doing what a reasonable person would have done and should have done."
"I don't know where starvation comes in," said defense attorney Keir Bradford-Grey. "The parents were feeding him fruits, vegetables everything else that you should feed your kid."
In court, the family doctor said the couple believed in non-traditional medicine and fed the child a gluten-free, organic diet with no meat because it made him sick. They said the boy was so weak he couldn't stand on a scale to be weighed.
The doctor was so disturbed by the child's physical condition and the fact he weighed only 30 pounds, he gave the couple $20 for gas to take him to the hospital, but he did not say the child was near death.
"What I see is a child who is severely malnourished and in a very poor physical condition such that he almost died," Cauffman said.
The defense maintained the parents were caring and nurturing. They did not believe in traditional doctors and they were mis-informed on the child's past illnesses.
Their lawyer said the child had five doctor visits and was not starved but fed on a regular basis. But a detective said the parents admitted they used bad judgement by not taking their son to get immediate medical attention.
"These parents have actively been taking care of their children," Bradford-Grey said. "There is no starvation, as you heard from the testimony. They were feeding their child."
But the judge ordered the couple held for trial on all charges.
The boy's grandmother is now caring for him. The parents, who had been ordered to stay away from the boy, were granted supervised visits with the child.
"This is torturing to them. The last thing any parent would want to be accused of is starving their child or being neglectful to their child," Bradford-Grey added.
The 6-year-old is now on a feeding tube at night, getting regular meals, vitamins and supplements. He's reportedly doing better.
The judge was upset that no one from the county Office of Children and Youth attended the hearing. They are monitoring the child's progress.
That agency refused to answer any questions about this case, citing state law as prohibiting them from doing so.
The parents are free on $50,000 bail.
