WI - Parents charged for keeping uneducated children in filthy house after 2 children found naked and bloody on the street, Milwaukee, July 18, 2023

[Ebon]

'Something out of a horror movie:' Mom, boyfriend arrested after kids found naked and bloody

MILWAUKEE, Wis. (TCD) -- A 34-year-old woman and her 38-year-old boyfriend were arrested after her two children were found walking down the street naked and covered in blood.

truecrimedaily.com

MILWAUKEE, Wis. (TCD) -- A 34-year-old woman and her 38-year-old boyfriend were arrested after her two children were found walking down the street naked and covered in blood.

The children were later determined to be 7 and 9 years old.

According to the complaint, there was a "mound of trash and garbage" outside of the children’s bedroom, which also smelled like urine and feces. A latch was placed on the outside of the door to lock them in.

Koch said she lived at the home with her boyfriend, Joel Manke, who refers to himself as their stepfather. When officers spoke with Manke, he allegedly said he boarded up windows in the kids’ room to "keep the children from bothering the nosy neighbor."

Over the three years that Koch had been living with Manke, she reportedly never took them to the doctor or enrolled them in school. She said she home-schooled them but admitted she "doesn’t have a proper curriculum" for them.

A witness told police he saw one of the children sitting outside naked and said they looked like a "caveman" when he saw them walking.

The complaint says the children’s hair had to be shaved at the hospital because it was filled with feces. Koch also reportedly acknowledged that the "home is not habitable."

 

[tlcya]

Katie Koch, 34, is the mother of the children. She's facing four felony counts and two misdemeanors connected to child neglect and false imprisonment. Joel Manke, 38, is facing four felony counts.
[snip]
Milwaukee County Assistant District Attorney Mallory Davis said the children were essentially confined to their room for much of their lives. The windows were boarded up and door was locked from the outside. Responding officers described it as "a terrible hoarding situation" in which they could not see the floor.
[snip]
"These children have been horribly damaged from their mother's actions. They are completely uneducated. They are not potty trained, even at their ages. They are, essentially at this point, unable to function in society," said Davis.
[snip]
In court Monday, the court commissioner set a $30,000 cash bail for Koch. A public defender said Koch has no money to post bail. Manke's cash bail was set at $6,500. Their preliminary hearings are set for July 26. If convicted on all felony counts, Koch and Manke each face fines totaling $120,000 and 43.5 years in prison. Koch faces an additional $20,000 in fines and 18 months in prison for the two misdemeanor counts.
'Something out of a horror movie': Mom, boyfriend allegedly imprisoned children in home for years

Another neighbor said the two were clad only “in diapers, running from home to home,” and that they had no idea Koch even had kids, according to the complaint. Cops found the walls of the boys’ living space smeared with feces, which Koch at first tried to pass off as “clay, paint, and chocolate,” it alleges.
[snip]
Under questioning by police, Koch allegedly confessed that her kids had never in their lives gone to school. However, while claiming she homeschooled them, Koch also conceded that she simply gave them Hooked on Phonics workbooks and tablets with “educational apps” to use in lieu of actual curricula, the complaint says.

“Koch stated that [the younger boy] cannot write but can trace letters and read ‘small words,’” according to the complaint. “Koch stated that [the older boy] is learning how to put sentences together in proper form.”
[snip]
Wisconsin Cops Discover House of ‘Horror’ After Bloodied Children Escape

7 and 9 - words escape me - these poor boys

 

[squareandrabbet]

'Something out of a horror movie:' Mom, boyfriend arrested after kids found naked and bloody

MILWAUKEE, Wis. (TCD) -- A 34-year-old woman and her 38-year-old boyfriend were arrested after her two children were found walking down the street naked and covered in blood.

truecrimedaily.com

MILWAUKEE, Wis. (TCD) -- A 34-year-old woman and her 38-year-old boyfriend were arrested after her two children were found walking down the street naked and covered in blood.

The children were later determined to be 7 and 9 years old.

According to the complaint, there was a "mound of trash and garbage" outside of the children’s bedroom, which also smelled like urine and feces. A latch was placed on the outside of the door to lock them in.

Koch said she lived at the home with her boyfriend, Joel Manke, who refers to himself as their stepfather. When officers spoke with Manke, he allegedly said he boarded up windows in the kids’ room to "keep the children from bothering the nosy neighbor."

Over the three years that Koch had been living with Manke, she reportedly never took them to the doctor or enrolled them in school. She said she home-schooled them but admitted she "doesn’t have a proper curriculum" for them.

A witness told police he saw one of the children sitting outside naked and said they looked like a "caveman" when he saw them walking.

The complaint says the children’s hair had to be shaved at the hospital because it was filled with feces. Koch also reportedly acknowledged that the "home is not habitable."

I was expecting to see ‘filled with lice', not that that’s any better.

Poor lovies…

 

[GoBuckeyes]

They didn't mention drugs, but I hope they do a complete panel. Their mug shots just scream meth. JMOO

 

[tlcya]

They didn't mention drugs, but I hope they do a complete panel. Their mug shots just scream meth. JMOO

agreed. In some articles they have images taken from their social media accounts. They do not look out of it or unkempt in those images, their appearance has very clearly changed drastically from those SM images.
Katie's demeanor when LE arrived seems scattered and disconnected from reality.

 

[tlcya]

TMJ4 News found that Koch was previously convicted of robbing a Cudahy gas station. Since 2011, Koch's other run-ins with the law involve theft, drugs, and a hit-and-run.

Nearly 10 years ago, Manke pleaded guilty to illegally possessing prescriptions.
Children found naked & filthy, roaming Milwaukee streets; mom, boyfriend charged with child neglect

 

[tlcya]

I have finally been able to view videos and photographs of the home and I can tell you that almost every inch of their walls was covered in human feces.”
[snip]
He also told police Koch uses the latch “to lock the kids in the room overnight to keep them from wandering due to” the boys’ alleged “autism,” the complaint says.
'A horror movie': Mom and boyfriend charged after kids allegedly escape from house covered in blood and feces

 

[tlcya]

The Wisconsin Department of Children and Families will not reveal whether this family has been at the center of any welfare investigations in the past. WISN 12 News asked Milwaukee police how the boys are doing. They have not responded.
Children escape home naked and covered in feces; new video shows mother and boyfriend's arrest

 

[ChatteringBirds]

How tragic. Thank goodness these children were rescued.

 

[c@tw0man]

Reminds me of that heartbreaking scene in Breaking Bad when Jesse found that little guy in the trap house. God knows how many little ones are living this kind of horrible life!

 

[NeverPersonal]

this is so disturbing

 

[Yellow Rose]

Naked and bloody children escape Milwaukee 'house of horrors'

A Milwaukee mother has been in court after her sons were spotted escaping a 'house of horrors' where she and her boyfriend allegedly imprisoned them.

www.dailymail.co.uk

more detail here

 

[Chimera]

It sounds like these sweet kids weren't ever seen by any neighbors ?
Awful story.

Please let their little lives be filled with sunshine and healing from now on !

 

[Snail-Overlord]

This is so horrific. Those poor children. I just can’t even conceive of how somebody could allow this to happen and go on for so long. This is on par with cases of severely neglected children like Genie and Dani Crockett From the article above, “They didn’t even know the outside existed,” is one of the saddest things I can imagine.

I am so glad those brave boys broke through the window and escaped. I cannot even imagine how terrifying that must have been for them – can you imagine going outside for the first time in your life without anyone there to explain your surroundings to you? Seeing trees, cars, seeing the sky and wondering why there’s no ceiling?

Their lives will not be easy from here on out, but they saved themselves from being further subjected to a lifetime of neglect and torture. I hope they are able to stay together since they have apparently been each other’s only social contacts for their whole lives. And I hope they get the best chance possible at a semblance of a normal life.

 

[Luwin]

Awful

Immature of me but what an apt surname for her

 

[Luwin]

DBM - duplicate post

 

[AzPistonsGirl]

it's her BF, not the father of her children and if my maths serve me well, the kids were in bad shape before they got together

kids and dogs, the helpless, voiceless... it's infuriating to know this abuse and neglect happens everywhere all the time

I wish the boys a healthy happy future. Long road, lots of work to get there though...

 

[Inthedetails]

I have finally been able to view videos and photographs of the home and I can tell you that almost every inch of their walls was covered in human feces.”
[snip]
He also told police Koch uses the latch “to lock the kids in the room overnight to keep them from wandering due to” the boys’ alleged “autism,” the complaint says.
'A horror movie': Mom and boyfriend charged after kids allegedly escape from house covered in blood and feces

The man said he knew the situation was wrong but had to pick his battles.

What battle took priority over children?

jmo

 

[tlcya]

House of horrors mother faked happy family life with sons online

TMJ4 News located the children's biological father over the phone and asked if he was aware of the children's situation.

He declined to comment.

Diane was surprised by the details that surfaced.

Up until a year and a half ago, Diane said would see Manke and Koch with the children.

"When they were here she was good, always watching over them," Diane recalled. "He's trying. I just wish he would've tried harder so none of this would've come about."
Milwaukee child neglect suspect released on $6,500 cash bond, his family speaks out

Bio dad must not have been very involved with his kids to not have seen them in the past four years. and to decline to comment at all about the current situation.

As to Manke's relatives, not buying their minimizing of his part in this horror. If they saw those kids a year or year and half ago they would have been 5-6 and 7-8. Did nobody question the fact that they were in diapers and barely articulate enough to form short sentences??? Bull crap.

I read somewhere in one of the initial articles that bio dad had been contacted by press but declined to comment til he checked with his current wife - looking for that link but I have very strong thoughts and opinions on that if true.

 

[tlcya]

Investigators say Katie Koch wrote a lengthy letter to her two young sons, who were allegedly imprisoned in deplorable conditions inside their Wisconsin home.

According to a criminal complaint obtained by The Messenger, 34-year-old Koch wrote a three-page "apology letter" to her sons, aged 7 and 9, and admitted to investigators that the boys "deserve better."
Mom Whose Sons, 7 and 9, Escaped Home Naked and Bloody Wrote Them Apology Letter

Wisconsin Parents Accused of Imprisoning Children for a Year Showed Pics of Happy Kids on Social Media