A Poteau, Oklahoma, police officer who responded to a child abuse call in 2015 is being praised after he adopted a little boy who was being severely beaten and starved.

KFSM reports that when Officer Jody Thompson responded to the call and saw the then-8-year-old boy for the first time, he knew almost immediately that the child would be his son one day.

“When I seen him. When I seen him in that house…I knew,” Thompson said.

What Thompson saw in that house was something out of a horror story and one of the worst cases of child abuse imaginable.

“Based on some of the case facts, when we found him he was bound by his hands and feet with rope and had been submerged in a trash can, held in the shower,” Poteau Police Chief Stephen Fruen said. “They weren’t feeding him. He didn’t have much to eat. I think what he did get to eat he got at school. Bruises, he was covered in bruises from head to toe.”

Officer Thompson took the boy to a local hospital. He stayed by the little boy’s side as he went through treatment while in ICU.

“And the rest is kind of history,” Thompson said.

The boy, who now lives with Thompson and his wife, is excelling. According to his proud new dad, the little boy is in the “Gifted and Talented” program at his school, where he consistently makes the honor roll. Thompson said the boy is “everything” to him.

“He means everything in the world that we live in. He’s the strongest person I’ve ever met. He means the world. He was helpful to me. He’s the reason why I’m here right now.”

The story became even sweeter when the child’s biological mother recently gave birth to a little girl while in jail. Thompson and his wife adopted the baby girl as well.

Fruen, evidently extremely proud of Thompson, said that the officer “set a standard” for the kind of compassion and commitment needed in law enforcement.

[Feature Photo: KFSM Screenshot]