[1]Mary G. and Anthony S. Foxworth Sr., in green striped jail garb, seemed to take care to keep their backs to the courtroom audience this afternoon
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – The Centralia parents who fled to South Carolina in an attempt to avoid prison after pleading guilty to severe neglect of their teenage son were sentenced today to nearly seven years.
Mary G. and Anthony S. Foxworth Sr. were brought before a judge this afternoon in Lewis County Superior Court. They have been held in the Lewis County Jail since the end of November after they were tracked down and returned to Lewis County.
They pleaded guilty today to bail jumping, in front of a partially packed courtroom that included their son and his foster parents.
The original agreement was a sentencing recommendation of 51 months, Lewis County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Will Halstead said. But because they fled, that increased to 75 months, plus another eight months for the new offense, to be served consecutively, Halstead said.
Halstead requested and the judge agreed they have no contact with their son for 10 years.
Marion Hazzard addressed the court, describing the 16-year-old boy, that she and her husband first met in February 2016 at Mary Bridge Childrens Hospital, who would become their foster child.
He appeared about eight years old, his skin was translucent, his bones were sticking out, she said.
Centralia police had begun investigating a month earlier, after couple took the boy to the doctor, and he was hospitalized with severe malnutrition, weighing just 54 pounds. Police found he had not seen a doctor since 2007, was not enrolled in school and could not read or write.
The Foxworth’s were charged in Dec. 2016 with first-degree criminal mistreatment and pleaded guilty as charged this past October.
The lack of food in their home was because of an elusive uncle who supposedly would sneak into their house, Hazzard said.
“He was told he was autistic, which he’s not,” she said. “He was told he can’t learn, but he is. He was told he had a bone disease.”
He was still wearing pull-ups.
“I came to learn, he didn’t own but one set of clothes,” Hazzard said.
The boy refused to bathe or brush his teeth and the world terrified him, according to Hazzard.
Over the summer, he learned to ride a bike, to mow a lawn, to do his laundry, she said. He’s returned to school and gotten his first-ever best friend, she said.
Anthony Foxworth Sr., 45, made a statement to the judge, that he would never intentionally harm his son. His wife read a letter aloud.
Mary Foxworth, 43, said she knows now she was not a responsible mother, but even when her son was in the hospital, she didn’t understand how ignorant she was.
“I am sorry for not having the life skills and the knowledge to care for you and teach you how to care for yourself,” she said.
Judge Andrew Toynbee said the sentence of 83 months was the most he could hand down. And that’s what he did.
Outside the courtroom, defense attorney Jacob Clark said his client, the mother, didn’t have the life skills necessary.
Anthony Foxworth’s lawyer, Chris Baum, said he didn’t have a good explanation for the neglect. He said he thinks his client doesn’t necessarily fully understand what happened.
“I think my client is a simple guy and he took a lot of cues from the mother,” Baum said. “He clearly failed to pay attention and his child suffered greatly.”
•••
For background, read “Parents in Centralia child neglect case see judge on bail jumping charge” from Wednesday November 22, 2017, here [2]