MACCLENNY, Fla. -- The guardian of a 7-year-old boy hospitalized for malnutrition and several injuries was arrested in what the Baker County sheriff calls one of the worst cases of child abuse he has seen. The woman's domestic partner was also arrested.

Suzette Stevenson, 45, and Jamie Lynn Martin, 26, are both charged with aggravated child abuse.

When the boy was found wandering at the Westgate Resort in Osceola County two weeks ago, he told authorities he was given drugs to put him to sleep and left in a car for several hours while the two women checked out a time-share property.

The child was hospitalized in a central Florida hospital. He has been upgraded from critical to serious condition. When he recovers, he'll be released to the custody of the Florida Department of Children and Families.

The charges were filed after investigators checked out the boy's claim of ongoing abuse at their home, including several beatings. The boy also said he had been kicked in the stomach, tied to a wall and denied food.

"From a long-term child abuse situation, I believe this might be the worst one I've seen," Sheriff Joey Dobson said. "Based on what we've been given ... he's lucky to be alive."

According to the Baker County Sheriff's Office, Stevenson and her partner moved from California to Macclenny in 2005.

Dobson said the two women were arrested two years ago on forgery charges.

Stevenson was being held in the Baker County jail on $100,000 bond; Martin was transferred to the Columbia County jail, where she was held on $75,000 bond.