MILWAUKEE – Two children, who were reportedly naked and extremely dirty at the time of this incident, escaped from a home where they allegedly faced unsanitary and neglectful conditions by shattering a window, eventually leading to a combined 10 felony charges for their mother and her boyfriend.
WARNING: This story contains details from a criminal complaint that may trigger victims of child neglect, abuse, hoarding and imprisonment. Read at your own discretion.
According to the Milwaukee Police Department and reporting from our news partners at TMJ4, 34-year-old Katie Koch and her 38-year-old boyfriend, Joel Manke, are facing felony charges related to a criminal complaint from the July 13 incident.
The complaint suggests that neighbors noticed that the two children, each under 10 years old, broke a window to escape their home near N 71st St & W Dixon St, and ran into the street. Witnesses said that the children allegedly screamed, ran and plugged their ears when approached by neighbors. The complaint says that the children were covered in lacerations from the window.
“It looked like they were hit with a belt. That was more terrifying than anything, seeing a child like that,” a neighbor said.
Police were called to the scene and walked through the home with Koch. It was described in the criminal complaint as a “terrible hoarding situation” with trash allegedly piled in rooms and strong odors of both urine and feces throughout the residence.
The complaint alleges that the foul odor was strongest in the children’s room, which had a lock on the outside and walls covered in what appeared to be feces. Koch allegedly claimed that it was “clay, paint and chocolate.”
Koch faces a total of six felony charges: Chronic Neglect of a Child (Consequence is Emotional Damage), False Imprisonment and Neglecting a Child (Specified Harm Did Not Occur). Manke is facing charges for Chronic Neglect of a Child (Consequence is Emotional Damage) and False Imprisonment.
This is a breaking news story. An update and/or follow-up may be issued if further details are revealed.
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