A children's book author based in Florida and her husband have pled guilty after abusing their adopted kids for years, so much so that one child suffered organ failure.
Jennifer Wolfthal, 45, and Joseph Wolfthal, 43, pleaded guilty to aggravated child abuse and neglect of a child with great bodily harm in an agreement with prosecutors. Their plea deal led the prosecutors to drop three other charges of kidnapping, as reported by PEOPLE.
Jennifer will now face 12 years in prison while her husband gets 10. Had they not agreed to the plea deal, the couple could have faced over 100 years in prison.
How Did the Couple Abuse Their Adopted Children?
The couple's crime was discovered after their 8-year-old daughter was diagnosed with pneumonia, a staph infection, and failing liver and kidneys when she was brought to the hospital by her adopted father.
In addition to the injuries, the 8-year-old was also malnourished and had a skin infection, sores on his right lower leg, and two black eyes, according to WFTV, citing the arrest report. When asked how the girl got her injuries, Joseph told authorities that she fell and brushed her teeth "too hard."
Investigators later interviewed the couple's other children and found that the pair spanked the kids to the point of bleeding, doused them in cold water, and would often allow them to go for months without bathing.
Additionally, the kids were not allowed to eat until later in the afternoon. And when they are actually allowed to eat, the children only have vegetable puree and cereal flakes.
Furthermore, investigators found more than 1,000 notes in the house that said, "My body stays flat on the bed at all times. I was never given permission to move or say anything else. Now, I get to write about this along with everything else. I'm a fool," per Law & Crime.
The children were adopted in 2014.
Jennifer Wolfthal's Children's Book
Jennifer wrote a children's book called A Real Friend, which remains on sale on Amazon. The book publisher, Clavis Publishing, denounced her following her arrest, adding that they would work to stop the commercialization of the book.
