Mom Arrested After Her Malnourished 4-Year-Old Allegedly Wasn’t Given Solid Food for 6 Months

A Charlotte, N.C., woman has been arrested on child abuse charges after allegedly neglecting to give her daughter solid food for roughly six months.

Mecklenburg County jail records reviewed by PEOPLE show that 28-year-old Sarah Weber was charged with one felony count of neglect causing a child serious injuries and was taken into custody on Saturday, Jan. 4.

Weber is being held on $25,000 bond, according to local WBTV, WSOC-TV, and local Fox 8.

WSOC, citing arrest warrants, reports that Weber neglected to give her 4-year-old daughter solid food for nearly half a year, leading to the child to have diarrhea for about a month. The mother never took her child to see a doctor at any point during the course of the illness, police alleged, according to the outlet.

“It’s definitely very saddening, right? So you could be in close proximity to someone and not know the extent of suffering,” one of Weber’s neighbors told WSOC.

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Once Weber’s daughter was eventually taken to see a doctor, the doctor allegedly found the child to be “severely malnourished” from the lack of solid food, according to WBTV, which cites unspecified court documents. Weber’s daughter was admitted to the hospital shortly afterwards, according to the outlet.

If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.