RAYMONDVILLE - A Guatemalan child separated from his father for almost a year broke his leg while in U.S. custody in the Rio Grande Valley.

Attorneys requested the courts to consider releasing the boy from governmental custody immediately.

The attorneys are concerned about the timeline and the people who treated the child.

The 8-year-old boy was separated from his father last summer.

A new rule put in place by the Office of Refugee Resettlement prevented him from being released to the custody of an Austin sponsor family selected by the child's parents.

A Brownsville federal judge ruled the government should consider the Austin couple's application and disregard their rule.

According to an affidavit provided by a doctor, Dr. Amy Cohen, working with the child's attorney, on April 9th, the boy's dad was notified his child was injured at some point while at the Raymondville detention facility which houses children under federal custody.

The parents were told he had "hurt his ankle" in a soccer accident.

The next day, the boy received an x-ray and saw a nurse practitioner.

His lower leg was bandaged, but the leg was not immobilized.

By April 11th, the affidavit states the child was taken to an orthopedist, not a pediatric orthopedist.

It was determined the boy had a fractured femur - the bone above the knee.

The doctor put the child in a long leg cast.

Dr. Cohen stated "considerable force" is required to fracture the femur - the largest bone of the body. 

The attorneys' request to release the boy immediately was denied Thursday.

The government still has until the first of next month to decide where the child will end up.