A Hennessey husband and wife who pled not guilty Feb. 1 to felony charges of neglecting their 21-month-old child are scheduled to return to court at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Travis Harak, 47, and Michelle Ruth Venable Harak, 21, 3561 N. 2890 Road, Henessey, were released from jail on separate $20,000 bonds shortly after their Feb. 1 arrests.

The spouses are charged with neglecting their child by failing to provide adequate nutrition and failing to seek medical care, resulting in a diagnosis of failure to thrive.

The child allegedly weighed 14 pounds when admitted to OU Children’s Hospital at 20 months old, according to an Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation affidavit signed by Special Agent Phillip Ott.

According to Ott’s affidavit, the child’s condition came to the attention of his grandmother when she saw photos of him on social media appearing malnourished, with sunken eyes, thin arms and legs and a distended abdomen.

The grandmother had not seen her grandchildren in person for several months, due to COVID-19, according to the affidavit.

The grandmother took the child to a Hennessey physician’s assistant on Jan. 16, who described him as malnourished, underweight and listless, and diagnosed him as failing to thrive.

The PA instructed the grandmother to take the child directly to OU Children’s Hospital in Oklahoma City, where he was seen by three separate doctors who confirmed the diagnosis of failure to thrive and made a referral to the Oklahoma Department of Human Services, according to the affidavit.

In an interview with a DHS caseworker, the child’s mother said she was told by an Enid doctor that he might be in an “eating slump.”

The child’s father blamed the Enid doctor for the child’s condition because the doctor would not listen to the mother’s concerns about the child while she was in the doctor’s office for an appointment with their younger child, according to the affidavit.

However, when the DHS caseworker spoke to the Enid doctor, she reported the family failed to show or canceled a total of five appointments and the doctor had not seen the child since his one-year checkup last April, when he weighed 17 pounds.

When OSBI served a search warrant at the Harak residence, they found “a plentiful amount of food,” bathrooms “full of mold,” and a child’s crib that also appeared to contain mold, according to Ott’s affidavit.

If convicted, the Haraks could face imprisonment in the county jail for up to one year, up to life in state prison, and/or fines of $500-5,000.