Social services knew about the plight of an eight-year-old girl locked in her "revolting and squalid" bedroom for 12 hours each night in the four weeks before she died, a court heard.
Charlotte Avenall, who had severe learning disabilities, was found by her parents hanged in her faeces-covered bedroom after accidentally tying a cord round her neck. Senior police officers said the room was the filthiest they had ever seen.
The youngster was forced to use a chest of drawers as a toilet as she was locked in her bedroom with no bed linen from 7pm for 12 hours every night, Nottingham Crown Court heard.
Her mother Susan Moody, 24, and 33-year-old stepfather Simon Moody were each jailed for a year on Friday after they both admitted to one count of child cruelty.
The court heard in the four weeks before her death Charlotte's mother claimed to be ill with E-coli. She left responsibility for looking after Charlotte, who had the mental age of a three-year-old, to her husband at their home in Moor Street, Mansfield, Nottinghamshire.
But despite her claims of being ill, she was trying to become a surrogate mother for a family in Manchester in exchange for £10,000. Her attempts were unsuccessful.
It has emerged social services at Nottinghamshire County Council knew Charlotte was vulnerable but they did not know about the extent of the neglect she was suffering.
The family received £1,300 a month in benefits to care for the youngster, even though Simon Moody had a job as a window manufacturer while his wife stayed at home as a housewife.
Susan Moody was only 15 when Charlotte was born and had been in foster care. The child had a severe brain defect which led to poor eyesight, mental capabilities and motor skills.
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Her condition meant she was difficult to look after. She had a fascination with her own faeces, which she spread around her bedroom, and tying things around her neck. Charlotte also had no sense of danger but despite her condition, she was of a "happy and sunny disposition".
