GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) -- A northeastern Wisconsin couple is charged with starving and abusing their 5-year-old son, accusing him of manipulating a trip to the hospital so he could "vacation" there.
Bradley and Kimberly Fahrenkrug are each charged with five felonies in Brown County Circuit Court, including reckless injury, child neglect and false imprisonment.
Criminal complaints against the Wrightstown couple say the boy weighed just 29 pounds when he was admitted to Children's Hospital in Madison last April, putting the boy at risk for heart failure. The complaints say the couple's other children told investigators their parents made the 5-year-old wear a helmet, a compression vest, flippers and a backpack filled with weights and ordered him to march and do other exercises.
The Fahrenkrugs say the helmet protected the boy from head banging and the other gear helped him strengthen his legs.
