Tammi and Brad Bleimeyer (left and right) have been jailed for the horrific abuse of their 5-year-old son Jordan. Photo / Police
Tammi and Brad Bleimeyer (left and right) have been jailed for the horrific abuse of their 5-year-old son Jordan. Photo / Police
WARNING - DISTRESSING CONTENT
Two Texas siblings have saved their 5-year-old brother from certain death after he was starved and locked in a tiny cupboard for months by his stepmother.
Cody and Allison Frank bravely testified against their mother Tammi Bleimeyer in a chilling abuse trial.
Bleimeyer's children, now 21 and 19, revealed how their stepbrother Jordan would go days without food and would be kept caged like a dog underneath the stairwell inside their home.
According to Jordan's step-siblings, they would secretly feed him bread in a bid to keep him alive.
Their father, 29-year-old Brad Bleimeyer, beat, starved and tasered Jordan "for no reason at all" and slammed his head against a wall.
Cody and Allison tried many times to seek help for Jordan, revealing they contacted to police, teachers and friends multiple times about the chilling abuse.
In court it was revealed how Jordan had necessities ripped away from him over time.
Food, clothes and even his blanket and pillow were banned, and the 5-year-old was forced to wear a nappy while inside the tiny cupboard surrounded by nails and exposed wires.
Jordan was so malnourished when authorities found him they compared him to a Holocaust survivor. Photo / Harris County Constables Office
It is alleged his father drugged the 5-year-old to keep him quiet when they had visitors.
Jordan was finally rescued in March 2014 when Cody, then aged 16, freed him from the cupboard and raised the alarm for help.
When doctors first examined Jordan, he weighed just 13kg and was compared to a Holocaust survivor.
Cody told the Sun he was horrified at how much Jordan had deteriorated.
"The day I opened up that closet, Jordan was in the worst shape I had ever seen him in.
"I had been in a huge fight with Brad so I was already in trouble and both adults were outside of the house so I just saw an opportunity and I opened up the closet to let Jordan out.
"But what I found was truly shocking - he was in his diaper, he didn't have any clothes on.
"His face was all caved in, bruises all over, marks on him. His mouth was foaming. I have never in my life seen anything as bad as that.
"I kind of paused for a second and then I just freaked out.
"If we hadn't got him out that day I don't think he would have survived."
Cody and Allison Frank have been praised as heroes for saving their younger brother Jordan from certain death at the hands of their parents. Photo / Facebook
When Cody raised the alarm, his father fled the home while his mother ran away with Jordan to a hotel with her other children before authorities arrested both parents.
In court, Cody confronted his mother, saying she made a "big mistake" and should ultimately "face the consequences".
"I'm up here to ask a rhetorical question of how, how could you put your children through all that? The people who should be your pride and joy.
"You caused me feelings of sadness, anger, confusion, and emptiness. I can't say that I'll ever be the same emotionally because of this."
Tammi was jailed for 28 years after being found guilty of injury to a child by omission.
