MYRTLE BEACH, SC — Centralia Police say 45-year-old Anthony Foxworth and 42-year-old Mary Foxworth were arrested in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. They were booked into the city jail Saturday on Fugitive from Justice warrants.
There is no information yet on when they will be returned to Washington state. The couple pleaded guilty in Lewis County Superior Court to Criminal Mistreatment 1st Degree but did not show up for their sentencing this past week.
In January 2016, their 16 year old son was hospitalized for severe malnutrition, severe constipation and weighing only 54 pounds. He was unable to stand on his own, missing patches of hair and unable open his mouth to eat. The child had never been trained to use a toilet, could not read or write and did not attend school. “It doesn’t really get any worse than what we saw in this case.” Centralia PD Detective Corey Butcher.
The 16-year-old is in foster care and has shown tremendous progress in his recovery “The kid’s doing great. So far to date, he’s gained over 90 pounds. He’s grown about 4 inches. He’s finally in school. He’s just doing awesome. Actually, I saw him a week ago. Totally different kid,” said Det. Butcher.
His foster parents said they are grateful the couple was found and eagerly awaiting their sentence.
“Our foster son will not be offering a Victim Impact Statement in open court. However, I will do so (as his guardian) in the hope that the court will be “encouraged” to administer a just sentence,” said Marion Hazzard.
The 16-year-old his two siblings were all removed from the Foxworth home for their safety.
“What people don’t know is that there were three kids in this family, all biological children and the other two were totally fine. They did have some signs later on that they were starting to head down the same road that the victim was but their health and appearance was completely different than the 16 year old.”
Criminal mistreatment in the first degree in Washington state is defined as:
(1) A parent of a child, the person entrusted with the physical custody of a child or dependent person, a person who has assumed the responsibility to provide to a dependent person the basic necessities of life, or a person employed to provide to the child or dependent person the basic necessities of life is guilty of criminal mistreatment in the first degree if he or she with criminal negligence, as defined in RCW 9A.08.010, causes great bodily harm to a child or dependent person by withholding any of the basic necessities of life.