Content warning: This story contains disturbing details.
When given the opportunity, Landon Maloberti would belt out his favorite country songs. He loved to play with monster trucks and had an affinity for pickles.
The beatings “caused substantial pain at the time they were inflicted,” according to the complaints, which noted that they were so severe that toward the end of his life, Landon could not eat, drink or stand.
The couple, who has been under investigation for severe child abuse since January, were arrested Thursday, police confirmed.
“In the 25 years I have been working for the Delmont Police Department, we have never faced an incident like this,” Delmont Police Chief T.J. Klobucar said in a statement.
Lauren and Jacob Maloberti in booking photographs.Westmoreland County Prison (2)
Westmoreland County Prison (2)
The Malobertis are being held in Westmoreland County Prison, without bail, Melanie Jones, a spokesperson for the district attorney’s office confirmed to PEOPLE. Web dockets do not list lawyers for either of the Malobertis. They have not yet entered pleas.
The couple often “repeatedly” expressed “their disdain towards Landon,” in text messages about the five year old, investigators alleged in the criminal complaints. In one alleged exchange, Lauren Maloberti said she was going to kill her son. In conversations with former co-coworkers, she “used the word ‘hate,’” to describe her feelings toward the 5-year-old, they later alleged to investigators, adding that she complained her adopted son was “hard to love because he was so difficult and he was a constant struggle,” according to the complaints.
Even though Landon was exhibiting signs of illness in late January — losing consciousness and throwing up — Lauren Maloberti allegedly waited an entire day before taking him to the hospital, and the delay was detrimental to his health, according to criminal complaints.
Before heading to the hospital Jan. 30, Landon’s parents washed off the vomit from his unconscious body, according to the criminal complaints. At the hospital that day, at around 6:30 p.m., Lauren Maloberti gave her son’s name as Landon Ellenberger — his name before adoption. In front of hospital staff, she worried aloud that she would be blamed for her son’s injuries and blamed his condition on repeated falling due to COVID.
The next day Landon had no brain activity.
Investigators found children’s and adult clothes as well as towels “damp with vomit” in the Maloberti house. Additionally, the camera used to monitor Landon had been ripped from the wall, and investigators allege that Jacob Maloberti, a corrections officer at State Correctional Institution Fayette, removed the camera amidst law enforcement interviews at the hospital, according to the criminal complaints.
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In a statement to PEOPLE on Tuesday, the crowdfunding website said: “GoFundMe has zero tolerance for the misuse of our platform and we cooperate with law enforcement investigations of those accused of wrongdoing. The fundraiser has been removed from our platform and donors may request a refund via theGoFundMe Giving Guarantee.”
The district attorney’s office is investigating the GoFundMe page, Ziccarelli said at Friday’s press conference.
“We are here today pursuing justice for him to give him the dignity and honor that he deserves,” Ziccarelli said, calling Landon’s death a “disturbing” and “tragic case.”
source: people.com
