Lindenhurst parents charged after 2 children found with heart damage due to poor diet, lack of medical care

A Lindenhurst couple has been arrested and charged for allegedly depriving their two youngest children medical care for years, leaving both boys severely anemic and one in need of a new heart.

Both children, ages 4 and 9, suffered "chronic iron deficiency anemia caused by a diet consisting of primarily cow’s milk mixed with strawberry syrup," Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney’s office said in a news release.

An investigation revealed that on Oct. 2, 2024, the 4-year old was brought to a doctor — allegedly for the first time since he was 2 months old — for constipation, according to the release. After an examination determined he was in critical condition, he was transported to good Samaritan University Medical Center, where clinicians realized he was suffering heart failure.

He was sent to Cohen's Children’s Medical Center and ultimately transferred to NYU Langone Health in Manhattan, where he received a heart transplant.

Upon seeing the child's condition, Cohen's contacted the New York City Administration for Children's Services, which then reached Suffolk County Child Protective Services, kickstarting an investigation, Tania Lopez, a spokesperson for the district attorney's office, told Newsday via email.

At the child’s home, investigators found his 9-year-old brother who was never enrolled in school malnourished, pale and wearing a diaper, Tierney’s office said. He was brought to Stony Brook University Hospital, where doctors found he was suffering from an enlarged left ventricle and other heart damage due to his diet. He was fed the strawberry milk through a baby bottle.

Their two older brothers, ages 11 and 12 at the time of the investigation, "were enrolled in school and received medical care" but still required "medical or dental treatment for conditions allegedly resulting from inadequate care," the release said.

Both parents abandoned "their duty" to care for the kids, who suffered "serious physical harm as a result," Tierney said in a statement.

"These defendants allegedly neglected two of their children for a prolonged period of time resulting in devastating and entirely preventable medical consequences," he added.

The mother and father were arraigned before Supreme Court Justice Richard Ambro on two counts of first-degree assault, two counts of first-degree reckless endangerment, three counts of third-degree assault and eight counts of endangering the welfare of a child. Ambro ordered both held on $500,000 cash bail, $1 million bond or $5 million partially secured bond. Both parents face up to 50 years in prison, if convicted.

The parents were charged with a specific type of first-degree assault known as "depraved indifference" assault for allegedly "acting in a reckless and depraved manner with regard to the children," Lopez said.

Authorities did not publicly release the identities of their parents to protect the privacy of the underage victims. The district attorney’s office declined to disclose where the children currently reside for the same reason. The office also declined to provide the names of the parents’ defense attorneys.