Woman Facing Child Neglect Charges Appears in Marathon County Court

Thursday, April 11th, 2024 -- 12:01 PM

(Karen Madden, Wausau Daily Herald) A woman facing charges for neglecting a teenage girl, who weighed 58 pounds when discovered, appeared in Marathon County Court.

According to Karen Madden with the Wausau Daily Herald, Brittany E. Hull and Tristan P. Hull both of Rib Mountain, each face charges of child neglect resulting in great bodily harm and child abuse causing great bodily harm.

Marathon County Circuit Judge Jill Falstad set a $1 million cash bail for each of them during appearances back in November. According to the criminal complaints, on Oct. 15, a deputy responded to the Hulls' Rib Mountain home for a medical emergency.

When the deputy arrived, he saw an emergency medical technician performing CPR on a child in an ambulance. The lifesaving measure was performed for 25 minutes.

The deputy talked to Tristan Hull, who said the girl had drank a protein shake and started having trouble breathing, according to the complaint. He said the girl began to gargle the shake and could not swallow.

Tristan Hull said the girl then stiffened up and became unresponsive. Tristan Hull said his wife, Brittany Hull, was the one with the girl during the medical emergency.

Tristan Hull said the girl was 15 years old and had stopped growing about two or three years earlier, according to the complaint. He said the girl was 4 feet tall and weighed about 50 pounds, according to the complaint.

Tristan Hull said the girl had a history of health problems, but he only specified a condition that caused poor blood circulation. The deputy also talked to Brittany Hull, who provided the same information, according to the complaint.

Five days later, on Oct. 20, a detective was assigned to do a follow-up investigation on the medical emergency. The girl had been taken to Marshfield Medical Center and weighed 58 pounds, according to the complaint.

Hospital staff told the detective the girl's organs had begun to fail because of severe dehydration. She also went into bone marrow failure because of malnutrition. The medical staff ran several tests and said they ruled out any medical condition that would have prevented the girl from gaining weight.

They also did not find anorexic or other behaviors that indicated self-inflicted harm, according to the complaint. The lowest normal weight for a child of the girl's age is about 90 pounds, according to the complaint. The girl was 32 pounds below that weight and about 5 inches below the normal height for a girl her age.

A doctor told the detective the conditions can be explained by the girl suffering severe malnutrition. On Oct. 19, a pastor talked to the detective and said he believed the girl was being abused by the Hulls, according to the complaint.

The girl had attended the church's children's program once a week for several years, but had stopped. The pastor said the church staff had watched the girl's health steadily decline over the years.

He said the girl would come to classes and struggle to focus because she was "literally starving," according to the complaint. The pastor said a teacher would bring snacks for the girl and she would "inhale" the food.

The girl also was caught taking food, stuffing it in her pockets and hiding in a part of the building so she could eat without Brittany Hull seeing her, according to the complaint.

In the hospital, the girl said she was happy she could eat what she wanted and was feeling better. She gained 4.85 pounds in eight days and had no problem with any of the food.

Brittany Hull had told the detective she had worked with a nutritionist to develop a diet for the girl to help with her brain function because of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. The detective found Brittany and Tristan Hull were not following the nutritionist's recommendations and that the girl had appropriate brain function.

The girl told the detective Tristan and Brittany Hull would not allow her to eat breakfast or snacks, according to the complaint. The girl said Brittany Hull was very strict with her and she would get in trouble for trying to eat snacks without permission.

The girl, who was home-schooled, said she was placed at a corner table in the living room for most of the day and was not allowed to eat with the other people in the house. The girl had lunch at dinner time and had a meal right before bed.

Brittany Hull also limited the girl's water intake to 16 ounces. If the girl asked for more food, Brittany Hull would tell her to wait until her next meal time. The girl said there were times when Brittany Hull had to feed her because her wrist would hurt when picking up her eating utensils.

The detective found a lock on the girl's bedroom door and all her bedroom windows. There also was a working alarm on the girl's bedroom door, according to the complaint.

There were books taped to the mattress of the girl's bed that would force her to sleep in a certain position. The girl had no blankets or bedding on the mattress, according to the complaint.

A detective did a review of Tristan Hull's cellphone and found a message from him telling Brittany Hull that the girl was so cold she was shaking and having trouble writing in her room.

Brittany Hull replied that the girl did not need a sweatshirt, according to the complaint. A detective also found videos from a security camera in the girl's room. The videos showed the girl forced to stand with her hands up for hours, according to the complaint. The girl was shaking and crying in the videos.

Both Tristan and Brittany Hull were seen entering the bedroom and forcing the girl to raise her hands higher, even though she was crying and shaking, according to the complaint. Brittany Hull appeared in Marathon County Court on Wednesday. Probable cause was found during her preliminary hearing, so her court proceedings will continue.

She pleaded not guilty to chronic neglect of a child and child abuse. She’s scheduled to be back in court on June 27th. Tristan Hull is facing the same two charges and he’s also scheduled to be back in court on June 27th.

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