Overweight woman ‘deliberately starved toddler so badly his hair fell out’

An overweight woman starved a two year-old toddler so badly his hair began to fall out, police say.

Jennifer Stout, 35, is said to have left the youngster so malnourished that his weight plummeted from 27 pounds to 19 pounds in just three months.

A doctor who treated the tot told police she had never observed such rapid weight-loss in a toddler, and that it had been caused by purposeful starvation.

The boy was also found to have ligature marks on his wrists and ankles, suggesting he had been bound up, as well as multiple bruises and injuries across his body.

Stout, of Pittsburgh, was reportedly given the toddler and his two siblings to care for by their mother Danette Turner over the summer.

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The relationship between the two women is unclear

According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette the children’s grandfather Gerald Turner grew concerned about their whereabouts, and managed to establish that they were being cared for by Stout through social media.

Their aunt Gera Turner then went to pick the youngsters up, only to find them living in what she called ‘deplorable conditions.’

She told cops that the toddler was lying on a mat on the floor.

On seeing how unhealthy the boy and his siblings aged nine and 12 looked, she brought them straight to hospital.

Allegheny Police Department told CNN that the three children had been made to live in ‘deplorable’ conditions.

Stout has been charged with aggravated assault, endangering the welfare of a child and recklessly endangering another person.

She is being held in Allagheny County Jail in lieu of $25,000 bond, and her preliminary court appearance has been set for January 3.