The parents of a Florida girl have been arrested for refusing to get her treatment for 17 rotten teeth. Jeremie and Cynthia Maloy were arrested after an investigation that stemmed back to January.
According to a sheriff’s report made available to the Daily Mail , school officials had noticed that the 10-year-old girl had severely decayed teeth and had notified the parents that her adult teeth had begun to grown inside her ruptured teeth, but the parents did nothing about it.
The school became concerned over the girl’s plight over the next few months and tried to set-up dental appointments. But the parents never gave the school authorities permission to take the girl to the dentist, citing not having insurance coverage and or a means of transportation. The sheriff’s report stated that the 32-year-old mother was more concerned with the school providing transportation, so that she could buy food and cigarettes.
Cynthia Maloy and her 31-year-old husband have been arraigned on the solitary charge of child neglect. The 32-year-old mother also made vague excuses about being turned away a local dentist she had gone to because her daughter’s condition was severe.
The school eventually got the Department of Children and Families involved after the young girl complained about the incessant pain from her rotten teeth. A school official speaking to the News Herald revealed that the 10-year-old found it impossible to eat because of the acute pain, adding that she was restricted to only eating soft foods like bananas, because of it.
Police say that a school social worker began reaching out to the Florida couple as far back as August, 2016, and that the Maloys refused to sign the medical permission slips their daughter brought home from school. If the couple had signed the forms, the 10-year-old would have been examined by a dental practice that offered free services to people who could not afford to pay for it.
Jeremie and Cynthia Maloy have two other children, but after meeting their $1,500 bond, have been told not to have contact with their oldest child, who has been taken away from them. The child is still waiting to see a dentist that can handle her case. Authorities fear that the months of neglect could cause a permanent disfigurement.
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