A Florida children’s book author and her engineer husband have received sentences for the abuse of their three adopted children.
The New York Post reported that on Monday, Jennifer and Joseph Wolfthal pleaded guilty to aggravated child abuse and neglect of a child with great bodily harm after reaching a plea agreement.
“The State Attorney’s Office ensured that law enforcement and the children’s new guardian supported this sentence before agreeing to it,” a spokesperson for Florida’s 18th Judicial Circuit State Attorney’s Office stated.
Jennifer Wolfthal, 44, the author of the children’s book “A Real Friend,” received a 12-year prison sentence. Her husband, Joseph Wolfthal, an engineer for Lockheed Martin, received a 10-year sentence.
As previously reported on CrimeOnline, court documents reveal that the couple adopted three children, all under the age of 12, who suffered ongoing abuse.
On New Year’s Day 2021, Joseph Wolfthal brought one of the children to a local hospital in Seminole County. The child suffered from pneumonia, a staph infection, renal failure, liver failure, and sepsis. Medical personnel also found the child malnourished and with open wounds.
During interviews with the other children, detectives discovered that the couple routinely locked the kids in their rooms for weeks or even months, providing them with little food and no showers or baths. Detectives reported that when the children did receive food, it consisted of “a mixture of bran flakes cereal, water, and vegetable puree.”
Police also stated that the couple poured cold water over the children while they were in bed. One girl told detectives she had to drink from the water to be able to breathe. The couple then left the children to sleep, cold and wet.
The same child reportedly said she had not interacted with her siblings or any adults for so long that she had to count each day of the week in her head to keep track. Seminole County detectives reported that all three children had not seen the outside world in years, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
Following the investigation, authorities placed the children with another family, according to Fox News.
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[Feature Photo: Jennifer and Joseph Wolfthal/ Seminole County Sheriff’s Office]
