The Wisconsin father of a 15-year-old girl who weighed only 58 pounds and was forced to stand with her hands raised “for hours” in a locked bedroom has pleaded guilty.
Tristan Hull, 40, pleaded guilty on Monday to chronic neglect of a child resulting in great bodily harm, according to court records. His wife, the girl’s stepmother, Brittany Hull, 33, is also charged with child neglect and abuse. Her case is ongoing.
According to a criminal complaint obtained by Law&Crime, on October 15, 2023, the Marathon County Sheriff’s Office responded to a medical emergency at a home in Rib Mountain, approximately 90 miles east of Green Bay.
When police arrived, Tristan Hull explained that his daughter was drinking a protein shake when she began to have difficulty breathing. She “stiffened up” and became unresponsive, according to the affidavit.
Paramedics spent approximately 25 minutes performing CPR on the girl before stabilizing her and transporting her to a nearby hospital. Her father claimed she had health issues, but only mentioned a condition that caused poor blood circulation, according to the affidavit.
The girl was flown to another hospital, where “her organs began to fail because of severe dehydration,” according to cops. The complaint also states that she suffered bone marrow failure as a result of malnutrition. The girl remained intubated for five days.
During that time, doctors ruled out any condition that might make it difficult to gain weight. Medical staff determined she was at least 30 pounds underweight for her age and had “severe malnutrition.”
According to cops, she gained nearly 5 pounds and increased her calorie intake while in the hospital for eight days, away from her father and stepmother.
Detectives spoke with the family’s pastor, who noticed the girl’s health “steadily decline” over time. The Hull children went to a children’s program once a week.
The pastor stated that the girl would have difficulty focusing in class because “she is literally starving.” The pastor told police that when she was given a snack, she would “inhale” it. According to the affidavit, she would stuff food into her pockets and sneak away to eat somewhere else in the church.
Brittany Hull allegedly blamed her stepdaughter’s condition on ADHD, but doctors said nothing was keeping the girl from eating properly. She took her stepdaughter to a dietitian but did not follow the advice, police said.
Detectives spoke with the girl after she recovered from her illness. She allegedly discussed how her father and stepmother treated her differently than her siblings.
The girl claimed her stepmother, who had been in her life for about ten years, was “very strict with her when it came to eating, such as not allowing her to eat snacks,” according to the complaint.
Her two siblings can eat breakfast, but she cannot. According to the affidavit, investigators discovered plenty of food in the house and her siblings had no nutritional issues.
Investigators also allegedly found locks on the girl’s bedroom doors and windows, as well as a door alarm. The girl stated that her father and stepmother told her she needed to follow a special diet due to her ADHD.
Brittany Hull allegedly refused to discuss her diet, fearing that doing so would result in arguments, according to the complaint. She was also allegedly forced to eat separately from the rest of the family at mealtime.
According to the complaint, Brittany Hull limited the girl’s water intake to 16 ounces per day. According to cops, she was sometimes so weak that her stepmother had to spoon feed her.
Cops also recovered surveillance footage from the girl’s bedroom camera, which allegedly showed her being “forced to stand with her hands up for hours,” according to the affidavit. Tristan and Brittany Hull would enter the room and instruct her to raise her hands higher, “even though she is visibly crying and shaking.”
Tristan Hull is scheduled to be sentenced on October 29.
