Inset, from left: Elizabeth Lynn Crow and Jacob Aaron Neal (Frankfort Police Department). Background: The Frankfort area where the defendants allegedly abused Neal’s 9-year-old son (Google Maps).
An Indiana father and his 27-year-old wife are accused of severely neglecting his 9-year-old son, allegedly starving and abusing the emaciated child as punishment while also expecting him to help care for younger children in the home.
Jacob Aaron Neal, 31, and Elizabeth Lynn Crow, 27, were arrested Thursday and each charged with felony neglect of a dependent resulting in serious bodily injury, authorities announced.
The investigation began Aug. 26, 2026, after Indiana University Health Frankfort Hospital alerted police to a child with suspicious injuries believed to have resulted from abuse, according to a press release from the Frankfort Police Department. The boy appeared malnourished and had severe bruising along with multiple bone fractures.
Because of the seriousness of his condition, the child was taken to Riley Children’s Hospital in Indianapolis and admitted in critical condition. Police said he has since been upgraded to stable condition.
The Indiana Department of Child Services removed several other children from Neal and Crow’s home. Authorities said those children were all found to be in good health.
Investigators determined that Neal and Crow allegedly withheld food from the boy as a form of discipline, police said.
Court documents obtained by Indianapolis FOX affiliate WXIN offered further details about the child’s condition. Police said he weighed only 51 pounds, with his ribs visible because of malnutrition. He was also wearing size 4 diapers and was “unaware when he would soil himself.”
Doctors reportedly documented bruising on the boy’s face and head, fractured ribs, spinal compression fractures, open wounds on his hands, gastrointestinal bleeding, a fungal lung infection, broken teeth and bedsores.
Neal and Crow allegedly provided investigators with different explanations for the child’s injuries.
Neal reportedly told doctors that the boy fell while climbing a bookshelf. Crow said he had fallen from a swing at a park approximately one week earlier. Doctors told police they did not believe either explanation accounted for the extent of the child’s injuries.
During an interview with investigators, Neal allegedly said the children were fed whenever they were hungry.
When investigators asked Crow when the boy was last happy and healthy, she reportedly replied, “It’s not like he’s been like this for a week or anything. This is just the past couple days and not even this bad,” Indianapolis NBC affiliate WTHR reported, citing court documents.
Investigators also uncovered text messages in which Neal and Crow discussed the boy’s food and punishment. WTHR and WXIN published portions of the messages, including:
Frankfort Police Chief Scott Shoemaker described the case as “heartbreaking.”
Neal and Crow pleaded not guilty at their initial hearings Friday, according to court records. A judge revoked Crow’s bond because she was already free on bond in another child-neglect case. Neal’s bond was set at $40,000. Both defendants are scheduled for a pretrial hearing on Nov. 12.
The post Dad, stepmom nearly starved 9-year-old to death, complained about boy begging for food while they tried to ‘relax’: Police first appeared on Law & Crime.
