Story highlights Officer Steve Dunham bought the boy dinner and took him to the station to watch cartoons

The parents pleaded not guilty to child neglect charges

The young boy and his four siblings are now being looked after by another family member

(CNN) A 7-year-old boy in Ohio tried to sell his toy dog to get money for food, police in Franklin said.

"We heard about the boy from a concerned man who came into the police station and said there was a small child carrying a stuffed animal in a busy section of Franklin," Franklin Police Officer Steve Dunham said of the incident August 7.

When officers went to the area, Dunham spotted the boy in front of a pharmacy and got out of his car to speak with him. The boy was really nervous at first, Dunham told CNN.

"I think he thought he would get in trouble," he said. "He told me he was hungry and was trying to get money for food."

Chief Russ Whitman told CNN the boy said he had not eaten in several days.

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