As a community reels from the news of a 9-year-old boy allegedly left to starve to death in his own Indiana home, the doctor who examined his emaciated body has revealed his own impression of the horrific neglect.
Dr. Roland Kohr, a forensic pathologist at Terre Haute Regional Hospital, examined the body of Cameron Hoopingarner. Blind, suffering from cerebral palsy, and unable to speak, the boy weighed less than 15 pounds when he was pronounced dead.
According to reports, officers arrived just before 4 a.m. on Tuesday at a home in Northern Vigo County in response to a call that 9-year-old Cameron Hoopingarner was in cardiac arrest.
Officers subsequently arrested Chad Kraemer, 33, Hubert Kraemer, 56, Robin Kraemer, 53, and Sarah Travioli, 30, for Hoopingarner’s death. Hubert and Robin, the 9-year-old’s legal guardians, were charged with neglect of a dependent resulting in death and neglect of a dependent.
Hubert and Robin had Hoopingarner since he was 3-days-old. They are not related to the child.
Vigo County Sheriff Greg Ewing claimed that the 9-year-old was bedridden and never went to school. Court records show he hadn’t been to a doctor in more than a year.
“In my 26 years in this office, the pictures that I saw of Cameron and his condition were terrible, beyond terrible,” Ewing said.
The 5 and 3-year-old children belonging to Chad and Sarah were removed from the home. The pair is charged with neglect of a dependent resulting in death, neglect of a dependent, and failure to report child neglect.
“It makes me mad,” Ewing commented. “It makes me mad that somebody could do this to a child, let alone a child that has physical handicaps and is blind, who was given to a guardian to take care of. And this is how he gets treated? This is what he deserves? To be starved to death? What kind of animals are they?”
The four are held at Vigo County jail on $250,000 bonds. If convicted of neglect of a dependent resulting in death—a Level 1 felony—they face 20 to 40 years in prison.
Watch the video report here: InsideEdition/Youtube
Sources: OpposingViews, The Washington Times, My Wabash Valley, WTHI-TV
only 20 to 40 years?…animals like that need to face life of the death penalty themselves…