Brooksville couple fights child abuse charges

Arthur and Lori Allain of Brooksville have been charged with child abuse and neglect for allegedly refusing to feed a 10-year-old child in their care.

But the Allains said that's not the case. They said they love all eight of their children, including the girl they're accused of abusing. The Allains said the child has been in their custody since 2002. "We've had DCF (Department of Children & Families) in our home once a month," said Lori Allain, 47. The Allains said in 2002 caseworkers instructed them to get nutritional counseling to help the child, who the couple claims has an eating disorder. But because they're classified as non-relative caregivers, the Allains said they couldn't get any financial assistance from the state to pay for that counseling. "I have plenty of people here who can attest to the fact that she was fed," Lori Allain said.

Bay News 9 will not divulge the child's name to protect her identity.

A Hernando County Sheriff's Department spokesperson described the child's condition as "extremely thin for her age. She's 10 and weighs 29 pounds, extremely emaciated like you would see in a TV commercial for children in some African country." Investigators said the child was fed only spoonfuls of food, but managed to survive because a sibling would slide additional food underneath her door. The Allains said the child is genetically small. "She's a tiny thing, looks like a dwarf," said Arthur Allain, 46. "She's like an elf. She's looked like that since we had her, tiny thing. That's all she is."

Investigators said the little girl had been left dead-bolted in a

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Lori Allain said DCF comes to the house once a month.

bedroom with a bucket for more than three years by the Allains and weighed only 29 pounds. The Allains said the girl's bedroom was dead-bolted for privacy. They said they gave her a bucket so she wouldn't have to get up and use the restroom in the middle of the night.

The girl was treated for malnutrition at All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg. But after numerous examinations doctors said they found no indication of an eating disorder. The child and her brother are in the custody of DCF. Officials there said her condition is improving.

The Allains bonded out of jail at a bond of $20,000 each.

The Allains met with a Hernando County judge and DCF representatives for about an hour Saturday. Both sides plan to meet with the Allain's attorney Monday morning to learn what will happen.

Making matters worse for the couple, DCF also wants to take away four of their biological children.

"They are great parents and a great mom and dad,'' a neighbor said. "I only wish I had the love they give when I was growing up."