Florida parents arrested for neglecting daughter's rotting teeth

Cynthia and Jeremie Ervin Maloy. Photo / Bay County Sheriff's Office

A Florida couple who ignored their daughter's 17 rotting teeth have been charged with neglect

Jeremie Ervin Maloy, 31, and Cynthia Grace Maloy, 32, were arrested after it was found they had ignored pleas by their daughter's school to deal with the problem, the New York Daily News reported.

Police had been investigating the family since the beginning of the year, according to documents from the Bay County Sheriff's office, the Daily Telegraph reports.

The problem was first noticed last autumn at the start of the school year, when the child turned up for class with "severely decayed teeth".

An investigation was launched by the local Department of Children and Families in February.

Such was the state of the child's teeth, according to court papers, that she was only able to eat soft foods. The girl had also complained of being in pain.

School officials made several visits to the family residence, even offering transport to take the child to the dentist .

"The Maloys never took advantage of this offer for the sake of the child, but Cynthia Maloy did ask for rides to the nearby dollar store to buy cigarettes and food," police officers wrote in their report.

Following a court hearing earlier this week the Maloys were granted bail, but ordered to have no contact with their daughter without the approval of a judge.