Officials in Indiana knew that a 16-year-old mentally disabled girl was being subjected to appalling neglect four years before she was rushed to hospital covered in feces and weighing just 35lb. The girl was in such a grave condition that she was put on life support at Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital in Indianapolis last December. The victim is the granddaughter of Steve Sells, 58, who, along with his wife, Joetta, 54, and their daughter, Crystal, 21, has been charged with neglect. 'Cruel': Steve and Joetta Sells were granted custody in 2009 when their daughter, Crystal, abandoned her child . Scene: Sells allegedly locked his granddaughter in an upstairs bedroom without enough heat. When detectives searched the house, they found a mattress, a bucket and a bowl of oatmeal in the bedroom . Court documents indicate that the teenager was brutally beaten by her caretakers, lodged on a blood-and-feces-stained mattress and forced to eat human waste and go to the bathroom in a bucket. Now it transpires that the Indiana Department of Child Services (DCS) first learnt of her ordeal as far back as 2010, with the teenager’s harrowing plight brought to the attention of authorities multiple times since, according to the Indystar.com. It claims that according to DCS records dated September 21, 2010, someone told the body that the victim, then 11, was ‘very malnourished’, had a bruise on her check and had not been seen in school. The DCS told the family it was going to investigate the claims, citing ‘serious medical concerns’. Records show that Steve Sells was ‘extremely hostile’ in meeting about the allegations, but agreed with his wife to co-operate, taking his granddaughter to a doctor and dietician several times. In November the DCS moved to dismiss the case, Indystar.com reports, due to lack of evidence. Third suspect: Crystal Sells, 21, has been charged with seven counts of battery, confinement and neglect targeting her mentally-disabled 16-year-old niece living with Crystal's parents . But a report landed on their doormat again the following October claiming that the pair were keeping the girl prisoner in her room for days at a time without food and denying her access to a toilet. The family claimed that the girl was being kept locked up for her own safety. In November 2011 the DCS closed its investigation, saying that it didn’t have enough evidence to prosecute the family. Last December the girl was taken to St. Vincent Hospital in Anderson covered in feces and so thin that police said bone were protruding from her skin. She was then flown to Peyton Manning Children's Hospital in Indianapolis in critical condition. In January Crystal Sells was arrested on seven counts of battery, confinement and aiding/inducing or causing the neglect of a dependent causing serious bodily injury. Investigators say Sells played a major role in the abuse targeting her special-needs niece. The arrest came a month after Steve Sells and his wife Joetta were charged with neglect. According to probable cause affidavits, Crystal Sells was seen on one occasion striking her mentally disabled relative in the head with a plastic chair, WISH-TV reported. When questioned by police, Miss Sells admitted to the abuse and said that even after she had realized that what was being done to the girl was wrong, she did nothing to stop it. ‘There were clearly times over the course of the four years where she was involved in the batteries, she was involved in the criminal confinement and she clearly could have gotten help for this young girl if she chose to and did not,’ said Madison County Prosecutor Rodney Cummings. Court documents show that Joetta and Crystal Sells waited three hours to call an ambulance after the girl was found unresponsive December 1, giving them enough time to come up with a plausible story in order to avoid prison time, according to a relative. That same relative said the women seemed more distraught by the prospect of going to jail than the girl’s appalling condition. Steve Sells, the girl's legal guardian since 2009, was initially charged with 12 counts of neglect and battery. He was hit with additional charges of theft, perjury and welfare fraud for allegedly misusing his granddaughter's Social Security benefits totaling $55,000, according to WTHR. Jannifer Sells and her fiance said they want the girl to come live with them once she feels better . His wife faces 11 felonies counts of neglect of a dependent, criminal confinement and battery resulting in bodily injury. The couple are being held on $100,000 bonds. Mr Sells was awarded custody of the girl after claiming that his daughter, Jannifer Sells, had abandoned her . Speaking to Fox 59 in January, Miss Sells said she was shocked to discover that her father allegedly had been abusing his own granddaughter. In December doctors at Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital recommended taking the teenager off life support, so grave was her condition, but around New Year’s Eve she rallied. She is now said to be awake and capable of getting out of bed. Jannifer Sells and her husband-to-be Anthony Gaw said they want the girl to come live with them once she regains her health. The Sells family allegedly kept the teenager locked in a room with only a mattress, space heater, blankets, a bowl with oatmeal and a bucket, according to the documents first shared by Fox59 in December. Authorities noted that the door had a lock at the top, out of reach of the teenager, and another child at the home said Sells would lock the door 'during the day and nights'. The child told authorities that they would sometimes see the girl's fingers reaching around the door, in an apparent attempt to get out, the documents said. Everything inside the room was covered with feces and blood, authorities said. The gruesome conditions were unearthed after concerned relatives took the girl to hospital December 1 and doctors contacted authorities. They then executed a search warrant at the home. 'If you see pictures of the victim, it's very disturbing,' Sgt. Joel Sandefur said told the Indy Channel. 'We wouldn't accept treatment of an animal that way, let alone a human being, a 15-year-old girl.' The teenager and a four-year-old child moved in with the couple when their mother abandoned them four years ago, according to the court documents. The older girl, whose grandfather said suffers from a chromosome problem in her brain, was kept locked up inside the room by Steve Sells, according to his wife of six years. She had not been to the doctors or to school in two years, the Indy Channel reported. He told authorities he locked her in the room to protect himself, claiming that the 35lb girl was strong and had previously approached him with a knife. Neighbor Thomas McAllister told said that Sells and his wife lived at the home with their three children. He said that Sells had always given the impression he was a caring father. 'That is mind boggling,' he added. 'That is just disgusting and no child should have to go through anything like that.' Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article.
Teenage girl taken to hospital in 2014 covered in feces and weighting 35Ibs . Her granddad, his wife, and their daughter have been charged with neglect . She was put on life support at Peyton Manning Children's Hospital . Teen was brutally beaten and forced to eat human waste, say court papers . Indiana Department of Child Services knew of abuse in 2010, reportedly .