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Hardwick Father Accused Of Starving Son, Forcing Him To Wash Floors

HARDWICK (CBS) - Residents of the six unit apartment building on Bridge Street in Hardwick said they didn't know about the abuse a 7-year old endured on the second floor. Officers said the boy's father, 27-year-old Randall Lints, starved his son nearly to death.

On July 14th, detectives were called to the hospital after the child was rushed in breathing but unresponsive. Lints told police he checked on his son in the early morning and found him in that condition.

Read: The Police Report

A week later officers said the child is still in a coma. Doctors said it's due to starvation and dehydration.

According to court documents, doctors found bruises to the child's forehead and jaw. His feet also had scarring and blistering as the result of a burn.

Detectives found the child was forced to continuously scrub the floors with bleach.

Officers wrote in court documents that "Lints rarely let -- out of his view or to be alone with other people. Lints has a history of limiting –consumption of food and liquids despite being addressed by a therapist in May 2015."

Pat Langley lives in the first floor apartment below Lints. She said she saw the ambulance last week leave with a child. She said there was only one occasion she noticed something out of the ordinary. "I heard him yelling at his son, 'why did you do it? why did you it?' and the child crying," said Langley.

One of the boy's school friends who lives nearby said he was always hungry and told her he had to scrub floors. She had not seen him since the end of school.

On Wednesday a judge ordered Lints held without bail until a dangerousness hearing on Friday.

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