A-four-month-old Arkansas City baby has been taken into protective custody and hospitalized in Kansas City, Mo., Ark City Police Chief Sean Wallace said Wednesday afternoon.
The 15-year-old mother of the child has been accused of neglecting the baby although formal charges have not been filed, according to the Cowley County Attorney’s Office. The mother’s name was not released.
A Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services social worker notified police Monday that the infant girl was being treated at Wesley Medical Center in Wichita. The child was admitted to Wesley April 28 after a doctor performed a routine checkup and found the child was failing to thrive.
“…there were suspicions that the mother was not fully tending to the child’s day-to-day needs,” Wallace said.
The child did not gain weight while hospitalized. Wesley staff did not feel the mother tended to the baby’s needs. SRS requested and received a police protective custody order for the child and she was transported Tuesday by Cowley County juvenile authorities to Children’s Mercy Hospital.
A hearing is scheduled for Thursday afternoon in Cowley County District Court in Ark City but will not be open to the public.
