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Winter Storm Hits Maryland, Part 3
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SC Mom Of 555-Pound Son Waives Extradition
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CBS
The mother of a morbidly obese child, who fled South Carolina with him when she lost custody, ended up in a Baltimore County courthouse Tuesday. Suzanne Collins reports the boy has been taken by Social Services to get health treatment.
Alexander Draper, 14, weighs 550 pounds. Social Services in South Carolina, where he lives, says he's at great medical risk. Last week, they took custody away from his mother, Jerri Gray. She skipped court and fled with her son. She was arrested here in Maryland and waived extradition in court on Tuesday.
"There have been some opportunities to get Alexander some treatment over the course of the last several months, and unfortunately, some of those things have not been taken advantage of," said Greenville Sheriff's Lt. Shea Smith.
The Sheriff's Office traced Gray's cell phone signal to a tower just near the Baltimore Beltway.
South Carolina deputies called Baltimore County police who put word out on their radios. One officer spotted Gray's van at Sudsville Laundromat in Woodlawn.
A lawyer who specializes in family law explains there may have been a number of requirements placed on the boy's care that were not followed.
"I suspect in this case there was certain things like going to certain doctors, at least putting him on a particular regimen of food, that she didn't comply with to the extent they said she should have," the lawyer said.
The lawyer says neglect cases are seen more often in underweight children, as opposed to those who are obese.
A parent says when a child is 14, it isn't easy to control their eating habits.
"At the age of 14, I couldn't control her every movement. I'm a single mom and when you're at work, you can't control everything she eats and everything she does during the day," said Francina Benjamin.
In the Essex Court Tuesday, a judge spoke with Gray, who agreed to return to South Carolina and face charges.
The mother and child don't have relatives in Maryland and say they just stopped to launder their clothes.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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