Inola Couple Accused Of Felony Child Neglect Of Toddler Granddaughter

A Rogers County couple was arrested Friday night, accused of severely neglecting their young granddaughter. Investigators said Michael Ray and Katherine Colleen Wilson had custody of their 2-year-old granddaughter who weighs only 16 pounds.

A probable cause affidavit says when the Wilson became the girl's legal guardians, she was in good health. She began to steadily lose weight, but court records state the Wilsons told medical personnel the girl ate all the time but couldn't gain weight.

Over the course of last year, she steadily lost weight and hospital staff began to suspect she was being starved, the affidavit states. Medical staff also found a "bezoar" in the girl's stomach, an indigestible mass which can be caused when extremely malnourished children eat things other than food, like hair, to satisfy their hunger.

The girl's biological mother told investigators that Katherine Wilson has a rule for the toddler to chew her food a certain way. The grandmother would take the food out of the girl's mouth or make her spit it out if the toddler didn't chew in the preferred manner, the woman told Rogers County investigators.

The little girl was removed from the home by the Department of Human Services. The Wilsons were arrested at their Inola home.