Jarrod Tutko Sr. was arrested after the boy's body was found decomposing in their home on Green Street in Harrisburg on August 1st. Now his mother, Kimberly Tutko, is also facing charges. She was arrested on Monday.
"This was a horrific tragedy for the young man to suffer the way that he suffered," says Chief Thomas Carter of Harrisburg Police. "My 27 years on this job, I have never seen a worse crime scene that what we witnessed at the house."
Police say Kimberly Tutko had a history of neglect and abuse in New Jersey. She had four older children, in addition to the six involved in this case.
"There had been injuries to a baby of hers and her parental rights were later- were terminated at some point, as well as her parental rights to other children," says District Attorney Ed Marsico.
Jarrod was 9 years old and had Fragile X Syndrome, a genetic disorder with autism-like symptoms.
Police say he spent time in foster care as a baby because of a pending child neglect issue with his older sister.
After the family moved to Harrisburg in 2005, he was returned to them. But New Jersey Dept. of Family and Youth Services officials contacted Dauphin County Child and Youth Services to flag concerns about his parents.
The Coroner says Jarrod died of starvation and neglect. He weighed 16 pounds. The D.A. also says he was in pain because he had abscessed teeth, and allegedly never had dental care.
When Kimberly Tutko spoke to FOX43 last month, she broke down in tears and said the children had been her world (Jarrod's siblings were removed from the home).
But police say she told them she had seen Jarrod in his room days before his death and she knew the conditions he lived in.
"She knew his room had no bed, the lights didn't work, she knew the lock was reversed, and she knew there was feces smeared about the room," says Marsico.
Police say Dauphin County CYS received two more warnings about the family. An anonymous tip on the Child Abuse Hotline brought a caseworker to the home last October.
The report says she did not go up to Jarrod's room; his father brought him down. His head was wet and Tutko Sr. said it was because he had poured something on himself.
Two weeks later, Jarrod's 12-year-old brother had a follow-up visit with a caseworker at school. He said his father had lied, and washed Jarrod off before bringing him down.
"A sibling of Jarrod told Children and Youth workers at one point that 'His dad doesn't care about Jarrod Junior anymore,'" says Marsico.