PONTIAC (WXYZ) — The family of two young Ponitac boys who doctors say were starved will stand trial on abuse and torture charges.
Arturo Bazan is accused of starving and abusing his two sons, Jonathan and Ethan, along with wife, Dulce Bazan, and older son Carlos. The two parents waived their right to a preliminary exam today, while Carlos did not.
Watch the video report below:
Dr. Peter Gerrits, a pediatric endocrinologist, testified Friday that 9-year-old Jonathan was “near death” when he arrived at the emergency room in November. He weighed only 33 lbs and had lost a third of his body weight in the prior seven months.
“Unbelievable,” Gerrits said. “It was quite striking that a person could lose that much weight.”
Related Story: Parents charged in starving and torture case
Dr. Allison Ball, a pediatrician at Corewell Hospital in Royal Oak, saw Jonathan within a day of his arrival. She had treated malnourished children in Rwanda and said Jonathan’s emaciation stood out.
“I never saw a child this malnourished,” Ball said. “I never saw a child who looked as sick and emaciated and near death as Jonathan.”
Ball said she saw evidence of more than just a few missed meals.
“There was strong medical evidence that he was the victim of severe, prolonged maltreatment that was physical and psychological and to me constitutes torture,” she said.
At the hospital, Dr. Ball said she saw marks and lacerations on Jonathan’s body as well. She said she spoke to Jonathan’s older brother Carlos, who drove him to the hospital.
“Carlos said he provided military discipline,” she said. “Military discipline is the words he would share with me. He described that he would have Jonathan or his brother do jumping jacks or push-ups for discipline.”
Also taking the stand Friday was Dr. Letha Powell, the principal of the boys’ school. She said both Jonathan and Ethan often seemed hungry, with one sometimes eating directly from the trash at school.
At other times, she said the boys showed signs of possible physical abuse. When Jonathan and Ethan didn’t show up to school one day, Powell made a home visit herself.
“A young lady came to the door and I said to her, ‘Where are my babies?’ And all she said was 'not here,'” Powell said.
Perhaps the most disturbing detail of all in Friday’s testimony was that this case did not come out of nowhere.
When an Oakland County Sheriff’s Detective took the stand, she said that repeated warnings had been made to CPS over the last 3 years.
"There were eight reports since 2022,” said Detective Allison Michaels of the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office.
“There were a lot of allegations of physical abuse and neglect, specifically injuries to the children and allegations that they were not getting enough food.”
In announcing her decision to send the criminal case to trial, Judge Ronda Fowlkes Gross said: “You had three adults. Nobody rescued these kids.”
Contact 7 Investigator Ross Jones at ross.jones@wxyz.com or at (248) 827-9466.
