Two pounds lighter than her birth weight, covered in a fungal rash caused by lack of hygiene and afflicted with nearly a dozen fractured ribs.
That is what four months of her parents' care did to the infant daughter of Emanuel Lyons, 24, and Nadine Rosa, 24, both of South Side, according to charges filed Thursday against the couple by city police.
The investigation began in April, when Ms. Rosa brought her 4-month-old daughter to Regional Hospital of Scranton for treatment of the rash.
Lackawanna County Children and Youth Services contacted city police Detective Vince Uher when it became clear that not only had an apparent lack of hygiene caused the rash but the child weighed 2 pounds less than her birth weight and appeared to have two broken ribs.
As the investigation unfolded, Detective Uher learned that after the child's first checkup 11 days after her December 2011 birth, Ms. Rosa failed to bring the child in for several scheduled doctor visits, according to the complaint.
In March, the child was brought to the hospital for an illness and, before discharging the child, doctors took X-rays.
When Detective Uher contacted the hospital regarding the March 16 visit after the investigation began in April, officials informed him that upon re-examining the X-rays ,it appeared the child had fractured ribs when the X-rays were taken.
By the time Ms. Rosa brought the child in to the hospital in April the 4-month-old had suffered a total of 11 rib fractures, further inspection of X-rays revealed, authorities said.
In an interview with police in April, Ms. Rosa said that typically Mr. Lyons watched the child while she worked.
She denied claims that her child was not fed or bathed properly but did admit that on one occasion she came home from work to find her daughter crying and the child's father unwilling to help take care of her.
Angry over this, Ms. Rosa squeezed the child, who then began to cry more. Asked to describe the severity of the squeezing on a scale of one to 10, Ms. Rosa said five, according to the complaint.
On Friday, Mr. Lyons and Ms. Rosa were arraigned on charges of endangering the welfare of children and recklessly endangering another person. Ms. Rosa was also charged with aggravated assault and simple assault.
City police attributed the delay in charging the couple to the examination of medical records as well as other aspects of the investigation.
Ms. Rosa was taken to the Lackawanna County Prison in lieu of $25,000 bail which she later posted and Mr. Lyons was remanded to the prison in lieu of $15,000 bail.
A preliminary hearing was scheduled for Dec. 19.
Contact the writer: domalley@timesshamrock.com, @domalleytt on Twitter