Rats chewed off baby’s toes

THREE people have been accused of letting rats bite a six-week-old baby girl and chew off her toes at their cluttered mobile home.

Pike County prosecutor Rob Junk said the baby’s toes on one foot were gone when sheriff’s deputies went to the Ohio home after receiving an anonymous tip-off.

The baby was said to be in a fair condition at a Columbus hospital yesterday.

Doctors said the child’s injuries apparently occurred over an extended period, said Pike County Sheriff Richard Henderson. The infant’s left foot and back were badly injured, and she had bite marks from what appeared to be rats on other parts of her body, Henderson said.

A married couple and the 18-year-old boyfriend of the baby’s mother, charged with child endangering, appeared in court for a hearing yesterday.

They were remanded in custody until a plea hearing in two weeks.

Junk said they all lived in the mobile home west of Piketon, a village noted for its old uranium enrichment plant.

He said the baby’s mother was a juvenile, aged 17, and would not identify her or say if she would be charged.

Authorities also seized two dogs from the mobile home and are investigating whether they might also have bitten the child.