The horrific abuse a 12-year-old Utah boy suffered went on for years before he was found starved to death in his father’s house, officials have said.
Gavin Peterson was discovered ‘not breathing’ and severely malnourished by deputies on a bathroom floor in West Haven on July 9.
Officers from the Webster County Sheriff’s Office attempted to resuscitate Gavin and took him to a hospital, but they were unsuccessful.
Gavin’s father, Shane Peterson, 46, stepmother, Nichole Scott, 50, and older brother, Tyler Peterson, 21, were all arrested and charged for creating ‘a prolonged pattern of abuse over the course of several years.’
Months later, Utah’s Division of Child and Family Services has revealed that multiple welfare calls about Gavin had been made to them since he was an infant, but no serious action was ever taken.
Disturbing new details have emerged about the abuse Gavin Peterson, 12, suffered years before he was found starved to death in his father’s house
In a statement released last week, the agency noted that there was a ‘complicated family history; in the young boy’s life and the ‘division worked with each household at several points in Gavin’s life as early as 2013’.
The report claimed that officials were alerted of the first sign of abuse in May 2019.
Stepmother Nichole was found abusing a child in the Peterson home but further investigation revealed that the victim was not Gavin. It remains unclear who the child is.
As a result, in-home services began by the DCFS to help address safety concerns with the other child.
A month later, the services were discontinued after their case was reviewed by the agency.
Father, Shane Peterson, 46, was charged with child abuse homicide, two counts of aggravated child abuse and child endangerment
Gavin Peterson died on July 9 after deputies from the Webster County Sheriff’s Office were called to his father’s home in West Haven on a report of the young boy ‘not breathing’ and ‘experiencing vomiting’ for days on end
In February 2020, another report was filed about Gavin’s welfare, in which the DCFS found him to be ‘a victim of abuse and that a caregiver had failed to protect him from the abuse’.
But it noted that ‘this abuse occurred in another household that did not involve Shane Peterson or Nichole Scott’.
By May 2020, Juvenile Court had ordered both his father and mother Melanie Peterson’s houses to participate in DCFS in-home services after the agency filed an intervention petition.
Similar reports kept being lodged in 2021, 2022 and 2023.
Most notably, Gavin was interviewed at his school without his parents after back-to-back reports of abuse had emerged in March 2023.
But the report states that he did not disclose anything regarding abuse or neglect.
Afterward, all of the suspects were interviewed multiple times until the end of 2023.
Older brother, Tyler Peterson, 21, was arrested on July 18 for child abuse homicide, two counts of aggravated child abuse and obstruction of justice
Stepmother Nichole Scott, 50, is also facing charges of drug possession and investigation obstruction of justice
Department of Health and Human Services director Tracy Gruber later said in a news release: ‘DCFS caseworkers are responsible for some of the hardest — and most important — decisions a public servant ever has to make.
‘They must decide if the government should intervene with a family in the privacy of their home to protect a child.
‘We must carefully balance state law and facts known at the time of an investigation when we make decisions that may forever change the lives of a child and family.’
After their arrest in July 2024, sickening surveillance footage and text messages between the three revealed Gavin’s final days, where he was only fed ‘a piece of bread with mustard,’ ‘one-third cup of water’ and was not ‘allowed to use the bathroom,’ the affidavit said.
Department of Health and Human Services director Tracy Gruber said: ‘We must carefully balance state law and facts known at the time of an investigation when we make decisions that may forever change the lives of a child and family’
‘The deputy noted that the bathroom floor was wet and the child’s skin was cold to the touch,’ the affidavit said.
‘Nichole and Shane reported that the child had been ill for several days, experiencing vomiting and seizures, but was not taken to a doctor. On the day of the incident, Nichole found the child in his bedroom, covered in vomit, and assisted him into the shower.’
Once Gavin was taken to the hospital, doctors found that his body ‘showed malnutrition to the point the child’s internal organs had shut down completely. The child’s body was visibly emaciated,’ according to the affidavit.
Upon further investigation into the child’s tragic death, detectives discovered multiple text messages between Tyler and Shane where they discussed the condition of Gavin.
In the messages, Tyler told his father that Gavin was not breathing, asking what he should do, the affidavit said.
Gavin’s mother, Melanie Peterson, said Gavin was under the legal custody of Shane after she lost custody of all four of her children between 2014 to 2015 after she pleaded guilty to a drug-related charge
Investigators also found home surveillance footage that showed Tyler making three trips to the shed in the backyard around the same time they called 911.
‘During two of these trips, Tyler appeared to be carrying items to the shed. A search of the property uncovered small surveillance cameras in the shed Tyler entered,’ the affidavit said.
Screenshots of surveillance footage that monitored Gavin’s room were also uncovered on Nichole’s phone that showed the horrendous conditions the boy was living in.
‘In most of the screenshots, the child is only wearing a heavily saturated diaper. The child can be seen curling up on the carpet-less floor of the room, which lacked bedding or blankets.
‘Several screenshots also showed sores on the child’s back. The room appeared to have multiple cameras, as the infrared lights from other devices were visible in the screenshots.
‘The photo also showed the door handle with a locking mechanism positioned on the outside of the room,’ the arrest report said.
After searching through the suspects phones, detectives found text messages where they allegedly discussed if Gavin was ‘allowed to use the bathroom’ restroom or ‘given any food.’
Their conversations also included talk about ‘hitting or beating’ Gavin, including ‘using a piñata stick to do so,’ the report said.
‘They also talk about how the door to the child’s bedroom is locked and how he has to knock on his door in order to leave.
‘When talking about feeding the child victim, the three suspects talk about only giving the child one-third of a cup of water, only giving him a piece of bread and mustard, or not feeding him food at all.
‘All of this messaging and evidence revealed a prolonged pattern of abuse over the course of several years,’ the affidavit said.
Screenshots of surveillance footage that monitored Gavin’s room were also uncovered on Nichole’s phone that showed the horrendous conditions the boy was allegedly living in
Gavin’s mother, Melanie Peterson, told KSL TV Gavin was under the legal custody of Shane after she lost custody of all four of her children between 2014 to 2015 after she pleaded guilty to a drug-related charge.
Although Melanie completed the terms of her sentencing, she was not able to regain custody of her children.
On several occasions, Gavin’s mother reported neglect and abuse from Shane and Nichole after noticing her second eldest child was malnourished, and described the horrid conditions she endured while under her father and stepmother’s care.
‘Nichole trapped [them] in the room. The lock was on the outside. She couldn’t get out,’ Melanie said.
‘She ziptied [them] to the bed, there was a camera so if [they] did anything, if [they] did get out, she would see it on the camera.
‘She wasn’t able to eat anything, only one meal a day, and it was smothered in mustard because all my kids hate mustard.’
Jan Davis, a school cafeteria worker at Kanesville Elementary School, revealed that she and a coworker would give Gavin lunch, even though the school told them not to do so
Investigators eventually interviewed her daughter she shares with Shane and said they found no signs of physical abuse. They only offered therapy for the child and physical examination was never conducted, Melanie said.
After regaining visitation rights to see Gavin in November 2019, Melanie noticed signs of malnourishment.
‘The last time I saw him, I took a picture of him because he looked so skinny. I wanted to take him in, to see a doctor,’ she recalled.
Melanie wasn’t the only person who noticed Gavin was allegedly being neglected, as Jan Davis, a school cafeteria worker at Kanesville Elementary School, picked up on it too.
‘He was small for his age, quite thin, they kept his hair buzzed and he often missed school,’ Davis told KSL TV.
Davis revealed that she and a coworker would give Gavin lunch, even though the school told them not to do so because they wanted struggling families to complete a form to qualify for reduced lunch.
Shane and Nichole were booked into the Weber County Jail on July 17 for child abuse homicide, two counts of aggravated child abuse, and child endangerment.
Nichole is also facing charges of drug possession and investigation obstruction of justice. Tyler was arrested on July 18 for child abuse homicide, two counts of aggravated child abuse and obstruction of justice.
Jail records revealed that all three of them are being held without bail.
