Perez Hilton blasts couple accused of traumatic abuse of 4-year-old, allegedly kept starving child in "dog crate" during family dinner

Podcaster and blogger Perez Hilton reported on the case of the parents of a four-year-old boy from Clinton, Missouri, who were charged with child abuse after the emaciated child was diagnosed with signs of childhood torture. Hilton wrote a blog on the incident while blasting the couple and shared it on his X account on July 11.

As per KCTV, the child's father, Joshua Gusman, and mother, Patricia Siercks, were found guilty of child abuse by the Henry County court on July 2 and July 1, respectively. Perez Hilton reported that, upon interrogation, the father revealed that the boy was allegedly placed in a dog cage and had been abused by the mother.

"Gusman told cops he’d allegedly seen the boy “placed into a dog crate while the family ate dinner and the victim was not provided any food,” the arrest affidavit noted. And not only that, but he also claimed Siercks had been abusing the boy for TWO YEARS! Well, that would seem to explain the marks and bruises," Hilton reported.

Perez Hilton expressed his view on the story and called it "beyond heartbreaking."

"As for our reactions to this shocking story… we honestly don’t even know what to say after writing all that. A dog crate? Severe malnourishment? It’s beyond heartbreaking," Hilton noted.

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Perez Hilton shares more about the child abuse case

The signs of abuse were first reported on June 17, when the accused couple took the child to Golden Valley Memorial Hospital in Clinton, Missouri. The doctors at the hospital found the weight of the boy was 23 pounds and questioned the parents about the condition of the child.

Parents cited the "picky" nature of the boy as the reason for his being underweight. Perez Hilton reported that in December 2022, the boy weighed 22.26 pounds, and during the hospital visit, his weight was found to be just 23.12 pounds, which is less than a pound of growth in two years.

"FYI, growth charts recommend a kid his age should weigh about 44 pounds. So, he was nearly half of that healthy weight. And not only that, but he hadn’t even put on a full pound of weight in more than two years. How is that possible?!?" Hiton wrote.

Doctors also observed injuries on the child's body and informed authorities about this. Hilton reported that when the officers inquired about the possible child abuse, Siercks said that she spends $400 on the child's food, but her son doesn't eat anything except a particular supplement that the doctor recommended, and hence she stopped the supplement.

Hilton reported:

"Per the arrest report, she also claimed she’d given him PediaSure for a few months at the end of 2024 to get his weight up, but that she stopped doing so early this year because 'it was all he wanted to have.'"

The victim's mother allegedly admitted that she slapped and punched the boy a few weeks back when the boy "threw a fit."

On June 30, the boy was admitted to Children’s Mercy Hospital for low birth weight issues and heart rhythm issues stemming from malnutrition. Doctors diagnosed the child with Refeeding Syndrome and noted that he was “within days of fatal organ failure.”

The authorities were informed again, and the couple was arrested after that and charged with two counts of child abuse.

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Perez Hilton called it "one of the most disturbing acts of child abuse" and reported that the couple can face up to 20 years of imprisonment and are currently being held without bond.