September trial set for pair charged in child abuse case

A trial has been scheduled for September for a couple charged with injury to a child after prosecutors said they starved a young girl to the point of cardiac arrest.

The Idaho Press reports Gwendalyn and Byron Buthman of Kuna are not allowed to see the 7-year-old girl, who survived the cardiac arrest, but they can see their other four adopted children.

A grand jury indicted the pair in March, alleging they only allowed the girl vegetable protein for food, forced her to sleep in a laundry room and isolated her from her siblings while she was between the ages of 3 and 6. Prosecutors say the child experienced starvation because of the nutritional neglect, and that she went into cardiac arrest after she was forced to stay outside in the cold without proper clothing as a punishment.

But the couple’s defense attorney Matt Williams contends several medical professionals saw the child during the time when prosecutors say the abuse occurred, and none of them reported any concerns.