The state's top child welfare official said her department had no information that a 5-year-old girl taken from her parents in 2000 and then returned was malnourished, emaciated, sick or injured.

Earlier this year, the girl, now 12, was found in her parents' apartment, weighing only 50 pounds — about 30 less than normal.

"We understand the public's frustration that no severe criminal action was taken back in 2000 and no follow-up occurred after the child was returned home to prevent this tragedy," wrote Lillian Koller, director of the state Department of Human Services, in a letter to The Advertiser on Page B1 today.

In the 2000 case, neighbors said they called police and reported the girl was locked in a room for 12 hours a day without food, water and bathroom access.

The girl was taken into emergency foster custody by the state on Jan. 23, 2000, and returned to her parents in 72 hours, said a DHS spokesman.

The Wrights pleaded no contest to second-degree endangering the welfare of a minor, a misdemeanor, and were granted probation, ordered to attend parenting classes and retained custody of their child. The case against them was dropped after they successfully completed the parenting classes and abided by conditions similar to probation for one year.

In the recent case, both parents have pleaded not guilty, and a trial is set for Sept. 10. Child Welfare Services has had foster custody of the child since January.

The girl suffered brain damage and can barely speak because of the effects of malnutrition, according to law enforcement sources who asked not to be identified because they were not authorized to speak.

In the 2000 case, the girl was not examined by a physician, but a nurse at the Wai'anae Coast Comprehensive Health Center determined she was healthy after a cursory exam, according to the law enforcement sources.

Koller said a comprehensive review of records in the 2000 case "did not indicate the girl was malnourished, emaciated, sick nor injured."

The Department of Human Services has declined to release documents related to the case, but Koller said they will be distributed next week.

"This week, the Department of Human Services will be releasing all Child Welfare Services records, including police reports, signed statements from the responding police and witnesses, medical records and photographs of the child's bedroom, the lock on the door and the child herself at that time, pertaining to the Wright case back in 2000," said Koller in a separate statement e-mailed to The Advertiser through a spokesman.

"We have met twice so far with Honolulu Police Department Chief Boisse Correa and Honolulu Prosecuting Attorney Peter Carlisle to discuss this case. They confirmed that the police reports and witness statements given to DHS, which we will be releasing next week, are the complete record of the criminal investigation."

Honolulu police declined to release police reports from the 2000 case and the current case.

"We conducted a thorough investigation and the case was turned over to the prosecutor and the appropriate agencies were notified," said Honolulu police Capt. Frank T. Fujii. "Our job is to gather the facts, contact the appropriate agencies and forward the case for prosecution, if warranted. We, like everyone else in the community, are dismayed that an innocent child was hurt to this degree. We are working with prosecutors and state agencies to safeguard children in the community."

Nicole Jordan, one of the Wrights' neighbors who in 2000 called police after hearing "wild screaming" from the apartment for more than six months, said Friday she was shocked the child was returned to the Wrights within 72 hours.

She said she and other neighbors called police at least six times to complain of the screaming before officers came and found the child in January 2000.

"I never talked to anyone and said she was fine. It is so far from the truth that I would describe the girl as normal. We were all crying when we saw her," she said. "Just the weird screaming we heard for so long and we were sure they (the Wrights) had no kids because we never saw them with anyone. I saw them leave every morning and they never had anyone with them. The child was completely abnormal when we saw her. I was so angry about the way it was handled back then."

State Sen. Suzanne Chun Oakland, chairwoman of the Human Services Committee, said she was told this year by Child Welfare Services that in 2000 the girl was found left alone in a "normal" bedroom.

Chun Oakland said she was not told that police found the girl in a room that was locked from the outside without food, water or bathroom access, nor was she told neighbors called police for months complaining of screams coming from the girl's apartment.

"If that was in fact the case, then I would have serious concerns about the department's judgment in the case in 2000. I would say (CWS) made a big error," said Chun Oakland, D-13th (Kalihi, Nu'uanu).

Dennis A. Arakaki is a former state legislator with a lengthy history of child welfare advocacy and a former chair of the human services committee. He said Friday that the state should have followed up with the Wrights and after the 2000 case.

"I'm surprised they returned the child to the parents. It seems all the indicators were there to necessitate follow-up," said Arakaki, who runs an outreach ministry that assists children. "That to me is kind of puzzling."

After 2000, relatives of the Wrights said they tried for months to see the girl. They said they saw the girl in May of 2006 and confronted the parents. They told The Advertiser the girl appeared malnourished. However, they did not call authorities.

Koller said she will recommend changes to state law so that family members of an abused child would legally be required to report the abuse.

Currently the law requires physicians, public safety personnel, teachers and other officials to report suspected abuse, but not family members.

Arakaki does not think a change in the law is warranted.

"If you make it punitive, then either way you (the reporting family members) lose," he said. "If you report it, you're liable for yourself or your family member and if you don't report it you're liable."

Reach Peter Boylan at pboylan@honoluluadvertiser.com.