Police: Pennsylvania Woman Facing Charges After 16-Year-Old Son Found Weighing 26 Pounds
CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. (CBS/CNN) -- A Franklin County woman is facing child endangerment and assault charges after her 16-year-old son was found weighing just 26 pounds. Elizabet Estrada is now behind bars in Chambersburg.
Officials say she recently brought her son to a doctor for the first time since he was 3 years old.
The boy gained only three pounds in the past 13 years of his life and is now only 3-and-a-half feet tall because of malnutrition. An average 16-year-old boy should weigh over 130 pounds.
Police say the boy is also developmentally delayed and has limited verbal skills.
Court documents show the teen is so weak that he can't even hold down food.
He was diagnosed with psychosocial dwarfism, which is a disorder caused by extreme deprivation or stress.
Estrada told police she homeschools her four children and they don't have much contact with the outside world.
Police say her other kids are healthy. Two of them are of adult age.
The 16-year-old and one of his siblings are now in foster care.
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