CHEYENNE — A physician who examined a severely underweight and malnourished then-13-year-old boy, whose adoptive father is on trial for aggravated child abuse, testified Tuesday that the teen resembled a “concentration camp survivor” when he was admitted to Children’s Hospital Colorado in June 2025.
The doctor, along with the boy, now 14, was among the first witnesses to testify on the opening day of the aggravated child abuse trial for the boy's adoptive father, Darrick Mittlestadt, who was the Laramie County Fire District 1 chief at the time of his arrest in July 2025.
His adoptive mother, Angela Mittlestadt, 49, was in a Cheyenne courtroom the day before to plead guilty to aggravated child abuse in a deal that calls for a sentence of 15-17 years in prison instead of the up to 25 years she could have received.
She’s expected to testify during her husband’s trial this week in Laramie County District Court.
The teen, referred to in the courtroom by the initials EM, told the jury Tuesday that he only weighed 54 pounds when Angela Mittlestadt dropped him off at the Douglas Youth Development Center group home last year, instructing him to to tell whoever answered that this was his new home.
Darrick Mittlestadt is on trial for two felony charges, aggravated child abuse and attempted aggravated child abuse, and could face up to 50 years in prison if convicted of both.
He will likely testify in his defense, but that has not been fully decided, his attorney, Crystal Stewart, said during her opening statement.
Ten men and four women were chosen Tuesday morning for the 12-person jury, with two alternate jurors.
Not ‘Father Of The Year’
“A terrible thing did happen to this child,” Stewart told the jury, but she said it was Angela Mittlestadt, not her client, who was responsible for the abuse.
“I’m not going to say he should be the father of the year,” she said of Darrick Mittlestadt, portraying him as a busy man who was primarily responsible for EM’s younger brother, NM.
Dr. Andy Sirotnak, a child abuse pediatrician who works at Children’s Hospital Colorado in Aurora, Colorado, testified that when EM was brought to the Broomfield hospital from Douglas, the child was diagnosed with cachexia, a complex metabolic syndrome characterized by progressive involuntary loss of body mass, specifically skeletal muscle and fat.
The doctor said people who are cachectic, like EM, resemble "concentration camp survivors." They are extremely thin and exhibit severe muscle wasting due to starvation.
Sirotnak said EM was extremely malnourished, with “no muscle to the bone,” and that he had bones protruding from his chest.
Assistant Laramie County District Attorney Jack Hatfield, who is prosecuting the case, asked the pediatrician how soon “an average person” could have looked at EM to determine that he was severely ill and needed treatment.
“Immediately, without question,” Sirotnak said.
Later, the doctor added, “This child looked extremely ill. Common sense would tell you that if you saw a child or patient who looked like this, they needed care.”
Sirotnak said EM had no medical records that could be found, other than at birth and when he was treated for constipation in 2018 at age 6.
During the examination for that condition, he said no other medical conditions were noted, and his weight was considered normal.
Gained 15 Pounds In Hospital
After dropping to 54 pounds by the time he was picked up by law enforcement in Douglas, Sirotnak said EM gained 15 pounds during his hospitalization.
At 2 p.m. Tuesday, EM, a still very thin child wearing a dark suit and matching tie, was sworn in and questioned by Hatfield.
He spoke in a clear voice, though he had to be reminded a few times to answer verbally instead of nodding his head.
EM said he was about 7 years old when his grandmother died of cancer in Colorado. The Mittlestadts adopted him and NM and stayed in Colorado until he was 12, when they moved to Cheyenne.
EM, who was not enrolled in school, testified that he never saw a doctor while living in Cheyenne, and he mostly stayed in his room “all day and all night.”
Unlike his younger brother, EM said he was not allowed to go or play wherever he wanted to in the house. The only things EM said he was allowed to do were read books and watch TV.
The boy said he initially was fed three meals a day, then two, and finally only one. He said Angela Mittlestadt prepared his meals and gave them to him.
Asked what he ate when he was living with his adoptive family, EM said bread, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, ham sandwiches, chips, fruit, yogurt and a banana.
Hatfield showed EM seven photos taken in Douglas on June 22, 2025, when his mother dropped him off at the group home and drove away. EM confirmed that the photos were of him and that he looked “very skinny and unhealthy.”
The photos were given to the jurors, who examined them individually. They were not shown to the rest of the courtroom.
Who Pulled Out Victim’s Hair?
Hatfield called EM’s attention to the condition of his hair in the photos, and asked what happened to it.
“I pulled it out at night, because I couldn’t sleep and I had absolutely nothing to do,” EM replied.
But during his testimony following EM, Sirotnak disagreed that the child’s hair was pulled out in the back. He described it as a “buzz cut” and even, not choppy like it had been pulled out.
Hatfield asked EM if he’d been able to play on a trampoline since he was released from the hospital.
“No, the hospital said my bones are too weak,” EM said. “I don’t really think that’s true.”
Under cross-examination, Stewart asked EM if “a lot of the time [Darrick] wasn’t there at home?” The boy responded, “Yes.”
In contrast, he said his mother was always present.
“I don’t remember when I saw (Darrick) last,” EM said.
In his opening statement, Hatfield said the state would prove that both Darrick and Angela Mittlestadt were guilty of aggravated child abuse.
He said prosecution witnesses will include Angela Mittlestadt, a Douglas detective sergeant who investigated when the group home notified him about EM’s condition, and several Wyoming Department of Family Services workers.
Also on the prosecution’s witness list are neighbors of the family and firefighters who worked at Darrick Mittlestadt’s station.
Stewart used her opening statement to tell the jury that the Mittlestadts’ home life was different than most families because of how the responsibility of caring for the two brothers was divided.
Brother Called ‘A Little Tornado’
Stewart said Angela Mittlestadt was a stay-at-home mother who was primarily responsible day and night for EM, while her husband took care of NM when he was at home, which wasn’t often because of his work duties.
The lawyer described NM as “a little tornado. He was a handful.”
Stewart said EM’s adoptive mother was responsible for feeding and disciplining him and all of his “day-to-day care.”
“We agree that he could have done better, but not knowing what is going on in his house is not a crime,” the defense attorney said.
He added that some of the statements her client made to investigators “would make me worried,” but that he made them without knowing the context of what happened.
“He trusted his wife,” Stewart said.
According to a June 23, 2025, affidavit filed by a detective with the Laramie County Sheriff’s Office, Darrick Mittlestadt said he was often away from home because of his job and he felt responsible for the situation.
“I failed everyone, because I didn’t do my job,” he said, according to the affidavit.
‘I’m An Idiot'
Another charge of conspiracy to commit aggravated child abuse against Angela Mittlestadt was dismissed as a result of the plea agreement.
It calls for a prison sentence of 15-17 years, instead of the up to 25 years she could have received for each of the two felony charges had she gone to trial and been convicted.
But Judge Peter Froelicher declined to agree to the reduced sentence Monday and scheduled a presentence evaluation.
The judge said if he ultimately rejects the lower sentence, Angela Mittlestadt can revoke her guilty plea. She’ll remain free on bond until sentencing, which has been tentatively scheduled for Dec. 14.
Angela Mittlestadt told a Laramie County Sheriff’s Office investigator that when she got EM as a boy, he was homeless, malnourished and a “f***ed up kid with trauma.”
“I’m an idiot and thought I could help him,” she said, according to the affidavit.
She alleged that he refused to do school, lacked feeling, remorse, empathy and “didn’t care about rewards or consequences.”
Angela Mittlestadt claimed the teen was malnourished because he refused to eat and rarely slept at night.
She also said he would “pee” and defecate in his room instead of the bathroom.
She said she had not asked for help because she felt the teen was not “anyone else’s problem.”
When she awoke June 22 and smelled “poop,” that was the last straw and she drove him to the center in Douglas, according to the affidavit.
Darrick Mittlestadt’s trial continues Wednesday.
