Murfreesboro woman accused of starving her 3-month-old boy

A Murfreesboro mother has been arrested after her 3-month-old son was hospitalized when doctors said he was the same size of an average 2-week-old baby. But the boy’s father says she did nothing wrong.

Rachel Henley was jailed last Friday, accused of starving her child.

“It was apparent to the doctors that the damage and the injuries to the child were very severe in nature – so much so, at some point, they made a DCS referral and a criminal investigation was launched,” said Murfreesboro police spokesman Sgt. Kyle Evans.

Henley is charged with aggravated child neglect and reckless endangerment and isn’t allowed to have any contact with her son.

The boy’s father, Aaron Anderson, says he is standing by his girlfriend 100 percent. Anderson said Henley was concerned about their son’s health, and she was the one who brought the boy to the hospital to try to find out what was wrong.

The father says baby Viktor had been having trouble breastfeeding.

“It was not abuse at all. Rachel sought medical attention the entire time. She was worried about Viktor losing weight. She had called the pediatrician 14 times and even had a doctors appointment scheduled for the day after, when she did take him to the ER,” Anderson said.

Anderson says Viktor is now with his grandparents and is doing well, gaining weight.

Now, the family is struggling to pay all the legal bills to fight the neglect charges.