Girl, 5, 'locked in cupboard and starved with bucket as toilet'
A mum and her boyfriend have been arrested for allegedly starving her five-year-old daughter and locking her in a cupboard for 25 days with nothing but a bucket to use as a toilet.
The mother has been named as Alexandra Ebey, 37, and her boyfriend has been named as 38-year-old Kenneth Trout.
Both were arrested in late December and charged with child neglect with great bodily harm, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office in the US state of Florida.
The sheriff's office said in a report the girl, 5, was found in a "weak and emaciated" state and she had open wounds all over her body.
Authorities also said she had "parts of skin falling off of her body" when they removed her from the residence.
The mother denied her daughter had been suffering from abuse, claiming instead she had injured herself while playing.
The malnourished girl, who has not been named, was taken to the Wolfson Children's Hospital for treatment.
The girl is alleged to have told police at the hospital she was "handcuffed and tied" inside the cupboard, and she was forced to urinate and defecate in a bucket.
Her siblings, who have not been named, reportedly said she was harshly punished when she would eat directly from a peanut butter jar.
The children were placed with their grandparents and the young girl was released from hospital last Friday.
– Australscope
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