A mother has been charged with felony neglect of a child diagnosed with “failure to thrive.” An investigator from the prosecutor’s office alleges the seriously underweight child would lose weight when in the mother’s care but gain in the care of a hospital or the father. A physician suggested “failure to thrive” could be “failure to feed.”

Stephanie Ann Catt, 28, from Lyons, formerly from Jasonville, was arrested by Investigator Julie Criger of the Greene County Prosecutor’s Office on Wednesday, December 9.

A warrant was issued for Catt in mid-November. She was taken into custody on the same day she appeared in court in a civil case at 1:15 p.m. Court records show the hearing resulted in the court giving custody of Catt’s child to the child’s father.

Catt was booked into the Greene County Jail at 2:55 p.m. Her bond was set at $10,000 surety with ten percent cash allowed.

Yesterday afternoon, Thursday, December 10, when Catt appeared in Greene Superior Court for an initial hearing, she was formally charged with neglect of a dependent resulting in bodily injury, a Level 5 felony.

A public defender was appointed to represent Catt and since the initial hearing, Catt posted bond and was released from jail with her next court date, a pre-trial conference, set for February 1.

Investigator Criger said the Greene County Department of Child Services (DCS) has been involved with Catt numerous times concerning lack of medical care for her young child.

On February 14, 2020, DCS received a new report on Catt concerning the child’s failure to thrive and lack of medical care. At that time, the child was five years old and lived with Catt in Jasonville. The report was made by a source at Riley Hospital who said the child had a significant list of diagnosis including failure to thrive, Common Variable Immune Deficiency Disorder, and a few other issues. The source said the child was chronically underweight with growth lower than it should be and that medical providers had been trying to keep an eye on the child’s condition.

The child, who has been hospitalized several times at either Riley or Peyton Manning and was being fed through a feeding tube in addition to some oral feeding, needed to be seeing several specialists/medical professionals, according to the source at Riley, but the mother had fired all except one and had either not made appointments or cancelled them.

The source at Riley reported at an immunology appointment the day before, on February 13, the child had lost four pounds in the previous month, had an elevated heart rate of 155 bpm believed to be due to stress the body was experiencing by not getting enough calories, appeared emaciated, and very thin with cheeks sunken in. The source reported that when asked about the weight loss, the mother said the child was doing well and she had no concerns, that she was giving him his feedings.

When a Greene County DCS Case Manager contacted the child’s primary care physician at Greene County Health in Linton, the doctor said the child was last seen in September of 2019 and noted several appointments in September and October of 2019 were either no-shows or cancelled.

Then on March 10, 2020, a doctor at Riley Hospital sent a letter to Greene County DCS saying the child was believed to be in imminent danger and a Riley medical team believed a medical professional should evaluate the child right away. The doctor said when the child was last seen at Riley on February 12, the child weighed 27.11 pounds.

On that same day, DCS removed the child from Catt’s care and the child was taken to Riley Hospital for a stay of about 11 days. When the child was admitted, the child weighed 28.6 pounds. By March 17, the child had gained weight and weighed 31.1 pounds. By late March, the child weighed 39 pounds.

When the child was removed from Catt’s care, the child was placed in the temporary care of the father and after the child’s release from the hospital, the child was taken to regular follow-ups and appointments with his primary care physician in Linton and other medical professionals.

Investigator Criger, who prepared a lengthy probable cause affidavit in support of the criminal charge against Catt, interviewed or shared reports from numerous people/medical professionals familiar with the child’s condition and care. Investigator Criger compiled very detailed explanations of the child’s appointments, hospitalizations, diagnosis, conditions, progress or lack of progress along with the professional opinions.

Investigator Criger attempted to interview Catt during August but Catt’s attorney was unable to contact Catt.

During an interview with the child’s primary care physician in Linton covering the care given since the child became the physician’s patient in September of 2019, the physician said Catt was not very cooperative with the physician’s suggestions or with other therapy recommended. With the child losing weight, at one point the physician wanted to weigh the child every two weeks but appointments were missed.

Investigator Criger reported the physician said when the child was discharged from the hospital in March, the child was in the custody of the father. The physician said on that date, “He weighed 39 pounds, which is what happens when you feed them.”

In addition, the physician said when the child came in with the father, he was like a really different kid, very animated and happy, with several conditions starting to improve and a significant weight gain. According to Investigator Criger, the physician said that the child had previously been horribly withdrawn, didn’t want to talk, didn’t want to look at her, looked enormously depressed, and then to see the child bouncing all over the room, a little hyperactive and messing with his dad’s hat – was really delightful.

Investigator Criger reported that during the interview, the physician said that failure to thrive can encompass a lot and just means you’re not growing. The physician said, when does failure to thrive mean you have organic failure to thrive where something organically is wrong or you have this or that, or when is it actually failure to be fed. The physician stated, “… when they gain weight extremely well in the hospital when they are fed correctly and then they lose weight when they go home, it’s not just failure to thrive, it’s failure to be fed.”