PROVO — Three weeks after a 9-year-old girl and her 8-year-old brother were taken from their abusive aunt and her boyfriend, prosecutors said they had gained almost 30 pounds, doubling their body weights.

Their aunt, Mary Heath, pleaded guilty Thursday morning to four felonies of child abuse for withholding food from the children as a way to discipline them.

Such actions "caused the children to lose substantial amounts of weight, resulting in malnutrition, which jeopardized the children's lives," prosecutor Tim Taylor told the judge.

Heath also used physical discipline, including striking the children with her hand or a belt, causing multiple bruises all over their bodies, Taylor said.

"In talking to some of the detectives (who) saw (the children), they were brought to tears," Taylor said. "I saw photos myself. And as a father, it was tough."

When police found the young girl on Oct. 14, she was wandering around her backyard in Eagle Mountain in just her underwear. She was clutching newspaper around herself to keep warm.

She told them she had been locked in the bathroom without food or clothes and had escaped by climbing out and falling 12 feet to the ground. Officers learned that her younger brother was still locked in a different bathroom.

When they entered the home and found the young boy, his body temperature was just above 93 degrees.

"They thought he was dead," Taylor said. "The sister will probably never know how much she did to save the life of her little brother. A lot of credit goes to her."

Heath had been tending the children for the last year after their biological mother gave custody to the children's grandmother, and the grandmother entrusted them to Heath and her boyfriend, Sekoa Aiono, Taylor said.

Since Heath and Aiono's arrests, the children have been in foster care and are now attending school.

"They will obviously struggle for a long time," Taylor said. "But the good thing about kids is they are resilient."

Aiono faces similar charges and is scheduled to have a preliminary hearing in December. His attorney couldn't comment about potential plea deals, but Taylor said they're exploring something similar with his case.

Heath's family members sobbed quietly as they listened to the judge ask Mary Heath if she understood her rights. He outlined that the four felonies, a mix of second-degree and third-degree felonies, could mean Heath would serve the maximum time allowed — 30 years.

Heath will be sentenced Jan. 15, and defense attorney Shirl LeBaron said he told Heath and her family to expect prison time, which he said is part of taking accountability.

"She's the first to say she did horrible things," he said of Heath. "But she's not a horrible person."

He said Heath will accept full responsibility and not pass blame.

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