A Utah mother deployed to Iraq gave legal custody of her 5 year old quadriplegic daughter to her boyfriend, who had previously served in Iraq.

Boyfriend reportedly suffered from post traumatic stress disorder and substance abuse problems.

Boyfriend allegedly neglected child to the extent that her weight dropped from 35 pounds to 13 pounds.

The girl had a grandfather who succeeded in obtaining a child custody protective order and rescuing her.

The child rebounded dramatically within 3 months in her grandfather’s care.

The boyfriend was sentenced to one to 15 years’ incarceration.

The criminal court judge thought the boyfriend was “salvageable” despite his alleged squandering of the child’s disability checks and her mother’s military payments while neglecting the girl.

Particularly considering the child’s special needs, one can’t help but wonder what the child’s mother was thinking when she transferred legal custody of her child to this man.

The mother does appear, however, to have gotten custody back upon the end of the mother’s deployment.

Read more in this Salt Lake Tribune article: Man gets prison for nearly starving quadriplegic child to death.