Updated

A couple was jailed on felony charges after police discovered their three adopted sons were severely malnourished, including a 5-year-old boy who weighed less than 20 pounds.

An 8-year-old brother weighed less than 40 pounds and a 7-year-old brother weighed about 32 pounds when police found them Thursday. The boys also were treated for bruises, scratches, burns and head lice.

Two of the boys told officers they were tied up to be kept from food in the mobile home.

Dennis McCurry, 30, and Molly McCurry, 29, were each charged with three counts of intentional infliction of great bodily injury upon a child. If convicted of the felony, each faces a minimum 20 year sentence.

A fourth child, Molly McCurry's 10-year-old biological daughter, was found to have head lice but was not malnourished, police said.

"It appeared that mom, dad and daughter ate one way, and the boys ate another way," Spartanburg County sheriff's Sgt. Kevin Bobo said.

According to the incident report, the couple told officers their family "had been dealing with a stomach virus that had caused the weight loss." During his bail hearing, Dennis McCurry told Magistrate Judge John Poole that he had lost 10 pounds.

The couple was denied bail and the children are in protective custody.

The boys are Molly McCurry's biological nephews, but she and her husband adopted them. The boys had lived with the McCurrys since 2003.