A Bellevue couple accused of starving their baby daughter pleaded not guilty to criminal mistreatment charges Monday, reported KIRO 7 Eyewitness News.

Prosecutors allege the mother withheld food from the child because she didn't want her daughter to be fat.

King County prosecutors said that between August 2008, and January 2009, Brittainy and Samuel Labberton were "withholding basic necessities of life," from their underweight daughter.

Prosecutors said the parents were repeatedly told by doctors and Child Protective Services officials the girl needed to gain weight but failed to feed her as instructed.

Charging documents said 21-year-old Brittainy Labberton told a Bellevue police officer during a visit at her home that her daughter was underweight because the child was fussy and described her baby as "the exorcist" because of frequent vomiting.

The baby was hospitalized at 2 months after failing to gain sufficient weight. Officials said she gained weight in the hospital and while in a foster home.

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According to court documents, when the baby's mother saw her daughter after the baby had gained weight in December 2008, she said, "Oh my god, she's fat", and "I have a fat baby," and said her husband had a weight problem and she did not want her girls to be fat.

Charging documents said the baby's 24-year-old father told detectives the baby "has gained so much weight that now she is fat, so fat that she might not learn how to walk."

After a visit with her parents, the baby was returned to her foster family in Jan. 2009, with a bottle that a doctor determined was likely filled with laxative, court documents said.

The Labbertons were ordered Monday to have no contact with the child, who is now 17 months old, and an older daughter except for supervised visits.

The couple's older daughter, who will be 3 years old in May, was removed from the home when she was 2 years old, after Brittainy Labberton threatened to kill herself and the baby, officials said.

Brittainy Labberton told investigators she hopes to have 12 children, court documents said.

If convicted as charged, the sentence range is up to one year in jail.

The couple is due to be back in court on March 1.