FORT COLLINS, Colo. - A Fort Collins couple on trial for the child abuse of their 7-year-old daughter was found guilty Thursday in Larimer County court.
Doug and Leah Dyer were found guilty of class 3-felony child abuse, Denver7 has learned.
The couple was arrested in Aug. of 2014 and was accused of neglecting their daughter, who weighed just 37 pounds when she was taken from their home in 2013. Investigators said the girl was unable to walk, talk or hold her head up.
Court records obtained by the Coloradoan newspaper state the investigation began in October 2013 when an informant told police the girl had been diagnosed with chronic seizures in 2009, but her parents hadn't taken her to a doctor since then.
When police asked the parents why four years had passed since the girl had seen a doctor, the couple said their car was broken and they didn't want to ask anyone for help, especially during a harsh winter, the newspaper reported.
Attorneys representing the couple put the blame on the child's doctors for failing to ensure her parents understood how to treat and deal with the medical condition.
The child was placed into foster care after Leah Dyer's mother reported her concerns to the Colorado Department of Human Services.
Denver7 checked court records and found Douglas Dyer, 44, had three prior convictions for domestic violence from 2004 through 2006.
Both will be sentenced on Jan. 9, 2017.
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