A malnourished 12-year-old girl weighed less than 50 pounds when she was taken into protective custody this year, said police, who yesterday arrested her father and accused him of attempted murder.

The girl's mother, who also is charged with attempted murder, was arrested Friday.

The parents, Melvin Wright Jr. and Denise Wright, both 33, were indicted last week on charges of attempted second-degree murder.

"I have not seen or heard about many cases to this extreme," said Dr. Kayal Natarajan, a pediatrician whose specialty is helping child-abuse victims. "I would be very concerned if a child 11 years old was 50 pounds."

The typical weight of a 12-year-old girl is 80-85 pounds, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.

This is a "very rare case" that a malnourished child went unreported, said Natarajan. "One of our safety nets to protect children is neighbors, schoolteachers and general people in the community who see the child.

"Children go to school, play with other children, interact socially. That's our safety net" for reporting suspected abuse, Natarajan said.

Melvin Wright was arrested on a warrant at 11:38 a.m. yesterday at his Village Park residence on Waiopahe Street in Waipahu. Bail was set at $100,000.

Denise Wright was arrested Friday by police officers at her Varsity Circle apartment in Mo'ili'ili.

Denise Wright was being held at the O'ahu Correctional Community Center in lieu of $100,000 pending her arraignment Thursday at Circuit Court.

The indictments stem from an investigation into the welfare of the couple's daughter, who was found to be extremely malnourished by Emergency Medical Services personnel on Jan. 7 at a second-story Kina'u Street apartment. Police said she weighed less than 50 pounds when she was discovered.

EMS was called to the apartment by one of the parents who reported the child was not eating.

Child Welfare Services has maintained foster custody of the child since January.

In 2000, Denise Wright was granted a deferred acceptance of guilty plea on a petty misdemeanor charge of endangering the welfare of a minor. Melvin Wright entered a deferred acceptance of no contest plea.

The attempted murder charges would indicate long-term history of endangering the child's life, said Natarajan.

Derick Dahilig, a spokesman for the state Department of Human Services, said the daughter has been "in a foster home where her needs are being met."

He declined to compare the severity of the girl's condition to other child-neglect cases.

"Obviously, we see a broad range of abuse and neglect," Dahilig said. "But we don't comment on specific cases."

Greg Knudsen, spokesman for the state Department of Education, did not want to comment yesterday on whether the girl is or has been in Hawai'i's public school system.

"In the interest of the child, I don't feel any information should be released regarding this particular case," Knudsen said.

Reach Dan Nakaso at dnakaso@honoluluadvertiser.com and Rod Ohira at rohira@honoluluadvertiser.com.