Two Milwaukee, WI children found naked & filthy, roaming streets after being locked in room for years

Children found naked & filthy, roaming Milwaukee streets; mom, boyfriend charged with child neglect

A Milwaukee mother and her boyfriend face several felony charges after two children were found roaming the streets of Milwaukee naked and filthy, according to a criminal complaint.

www.tmj4.com

Children found naked & filthy, roaming Milwaukee streets; mom, boyfriend charged with child neglect​

A Milwaukee mother and her boyfriend face several felony charges after two children were found roaming the streets of Milwaukee naked and filthy, according to a criminal complaint.

Katie Koch, 34, and her boyfriend, Joel Manke, 38, face a total of 10 felony charges for chronic neglect of a child and false imprisonment. A criminal complaint says on July 13, neighbors spotted two naked children on the streets near 71st and Dixon.

One neighbor says he spotted the kids in the street as he returned home in his car. He says they appeared to be wearing costumes.

“It looked like they were wearing wigs,” Rick Eder said. “When I got a closer look at them, I looked at my wife and tell her, that’s not costumes. It looked like they were hit with a belt. That was more terrifying than anything, seeing a child like that.”

The children, both under the age of 10 according to the criminal complaint, had broken a window in the house to escape. According to the criminal complaint, the children were covered in lacerations to their backs, shoulders, and lower back and were not clothed. A person who called 911 said it looked like they had bruises and red marks on their thighs.

Eder says, as neighbors tried to approach the children to help, the older child would run away and the younger would plug their ears with their fingers and scream.

“It looked like they haven’t had a bath in a long time,” Eder said. “The way their hair was, you can tell it wasn’t washed or even cut in a long time. Very disturbing. I didn’t think that house was going to be very clean.”

As disturbing as Eder thought this incident was, he felt the inside of the home was likely worse.

According to the criminal complaint, Koch was disheveled. She walked police through the home, which police described as a “terrible hoarding situation.” Trash was piled in a number of rooms and officers noted a strong scent of urine and feces. As officers continued through the home, the scent got stronger as they neared the room the children were staying in. That room had a lock on the outside of the door.

When police entered the room, the complaint says the walls were covered in feces. Koch told police the substance on the walls of the room was “clay, paint and chocolate” according to the criminal complaint, but the officer on scene said it was feces.

During an interview with Koch, police told her the children had to have their heads shaved because “it was full of matted feces.” Koch told police that was okay because they hadn’t had their hair cut in a very long time.

Police also spoke to Koch's boyfriend, Manke. He told police the kids had not been to a medical provider or school during the entire three and a half years they were inside the home.

MORE HORRIFYING DETAILS AT LINK

 

[GrandmaBear]

Yea, I worry for their future as well. I read (in one of the articles posted above) that the boyfriends mom had temporary custody of the children but returned them to child services because their special needs were too much for her to take on. I also bet her son needed a place to go to when he was bailed out, and he wouldn't be able to go to mom's if the children were there.

Haven't read on it but yeah and vice versa if she bailed her son out and had him there she wouldn't be an option for the children.

BUT should he be out and it be an issue?? Even his mom it sounded like tried from what you said but when NO ONE, not just mom, ever seemed to treat these children well, him included, why should any of them have them AND I guess I just fear for where they will end up. It will maybe be better than in their own feces, etc. but not by much.

I hate to sound like I am stereotyping but he was the male, put your FOOT down, it is YOUR house an say you treat your kids right or get OUT etc. and call her in.

I just don't think he is some innocent here. Not saying you do either. Just talking generally. It can be great to be a do gooder so long as that do good thing isn't enableing a bad doer if that makes any sense?

 

[GrandmaBear]

Haven't read on it but yeah and vice versa if she bailed her son out and had him there she wouldn't be an option for the children.

BUT should he be out and it be an issue?? Even his mom it sounded like tried from what you said but when NO ONE, not just mom, ever seemed to treat these children well, him included, why should any of them have them AND I guess I just fear for where they will end up. It will maybe be better than in their own feces, etc. but not by much.

I hate to sound like I am stereotyping but he was the male, put your FOOT down, it is YOUR house an say you treat your kids right or get OUT etc. and call her in.

I just don't think he is some innocent here. Not saying you do either. Just talking generally. It can be great to be a do gooder so long as that do good thing isn't enableing a bad doer if that makes any sense?

I don't mean his mom by the way, hugs to her for trying, I mean the kids' mom.

 

[Mel70]

First photo, filt-tastic.
Second photo, no filter.

Photo 1. Pre meth
Photo 2. After vast experience with meth.

 

[Mel70]

View attachment 19865

Children found naked & filthy, roaming Milwaukee streets; mom, boyfriend charged with child neglect

A Milwaukee mother and her boyfriend face several felony charges after two children were found roaming the streets of Milwaukee naked and filthy, according to a criminal complaint.

www.tmj4.com

Children found naked & filthy, roaming Milwaukee streets; mom, boyfriend charged with child neglect​

A Milwaukee mother and her boyfriend face several felony charges after two children were found roaming the streets of Milwaukee naked and filthy, according to a criminal complaint.

Katie Koch, 34, and her boyfriend, Joel Manke, 38, face a total of 10 felony charges for chronic neglect of a child and false imprisonment. A criminal complaint says on July 13, neighbors spotted two naked children on the streets near 71st and Dixon.

One neighbor says he spotted the kids in the street as he returned home in his car. He says they appeared to be wearing costumes.

“It looked like they were wearing wigs,” Rick Eder said. “When I got a closer look at them, I looked at my wife and tell her, that’s not costumes. It looked like they were hit with a belt. That was more terrifying than anything, seeing a child like that.”

The children, both under the age of 10 according to the criminal complaint, had broken a window in the house to escape. According to the criminal complaint, the children were covered in lacerations to their backs, shoulders, and lower back and were not clothed. A person who called 911 said it looked like they had bruises and red marks on their thighs.

Eder says, as neighbors tried to approach the children to help, the older child would run away and the younger would plug their ears with their fingers and scream.

“It looked like they haven’t had a bath in a long time,” Eder said. “The way their hair was, you can tell it wasn’t washed or even cut in a long time. Very disturbing. I didn’t think that house was going to be very clean.”

As disturbing as Eder thought this incident was, he felt the inside of the home was likely worse.

According to the criminal complaint, Koch was disheveled. She walked police through the home, which police described as a “terrible hoarding situation.” Trash was piled in a number of rooms and officers noted a strong scent of urine and feces. As officers continued through the home, the scent got stronger as they neared the room the children were staying in. That room had a lock on the outside of the door.

When police entered the room, the complaint says the walls were covered in feces. Koch told police the substance on the walls of the room was “clay, paint and chocolate” according to the criminal complaint, but the officer on scene said it was feces.

During an interview with Koch, police told her the children had to have their heads shaved because “it was full of matted feces.” Koch told police that was okay because they hadn’t had their hair cut in a very long time.

Police also spoke to Koch's boyfriend, Manke. He told police the kids had not been to a medical provider or school during the entire three and a half years they were inside the home.

MORE HORRIFYING DETAILS AT LINK

This is awful!!! Those poor kids. It's obviously effected them. The condition of the house
Especially their room. I hope they get everything they need to in order to lead normal lives.

 

[Mel70]

Haven't read on it but yeah and vice versa if she bailed her son out and had him there she wouldn't be an option for the children.

BUT should he be out and it be an issue?? Even his mom it sounded like tried from what you said but when NO ONE, not just mom, ever seemed to treat these children well, him included, why should any of them have them AND I guess I just fear for where they will end up. It will maybe be better than in their own feces, etc. but not by much.

I hate to sound like I am stereotyping but he was the male, put your FOOT down, it is YOUR house an say you treat your kids right or get OUT etc. and call her in.

I just don't think he is some innocent here. Not saying you do either. Just talking generally. It can be great to be a do gooder so long as that do good thing isn't enableing a bad doer if that makes any sense?

That goes just so far beyond. That is so far beyond stepping in and helping clean up the kids, Enrolled in school. Clean the house up. Big chore. Will take awhile. But it's being done.

 

[Kimster]

WHY would anyone choose to live like that and treat their children worse than animals??? I don't get it. It makes me wonder, how could they live in that house with the smell it must have been?
How did the kids stay alive, if they were not fed?? Was she just too lazy or what?
Oh, and then to try to justify everything with some stupid answer about the "nosy neighbors."
My heart hurts.

I was so surprised when I saw the front of the house! Looks like it could be anyone. You never know what’s going on behind closed doors. Ever.

 

[Mel70]

I was so surprised when I saw the front of the house! Looks like it could be anyone. You never know what’s going on behind closed doors. Ever.

Yes. That is what I say. Sometimes it spills out as being bruised etc. But the real horrors of every day living in the home is far worse.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Family of mother charged in child neglect case say 'they had no idea' about circumstances

The brother of a woman facing felony charges related to her children said he was blindsided by reports of the criminal charges.

www.tmj4.com

Family of mother charged in child neglect case say 'they had no idea' about circumstances​

The brother of a woman facing felony charges related to her children said he was blindsided by reports of the criminal charges.

"Those poor babies. We had no idea. Don't think for a second if we had an idea we wouldn't have taken care of that. I don't know what went wrong or where it went wrong," Matt Koch said.

Matt, overwhelmed with frustration, said he would not defend his sister and called the situation disgusting. He questioned why Manke did not do more to help the children.

"Why didn't he step in and be like, 'Hey, this isn't right?' Because of an argument? Does he have a spine," Matt said.

His biggest concern is the children. Matt stated his mother is struggling to get answers.

"Where can these kids go to get the help that they so desperately need now," Matt asked. "Those kids need around-the-clock care right now."

 

[GrandmaBear]

I was so surprised when I saw the front of the house! Looks like it could be anyone. You never know what’s going on behind closed doors. Ever.

You mean the home looked well maintained on the outside and more decent than you expected? Because I thought the same. Although the boarded up part of the window stood out but it probably wouldn't have seemed like much if we didn't ktnow what we had already heard.

 

[Mel70]

Family of mother charged in child neglect case say 'they had no idea' about circumstances

The brother of a woman facing felony charges related to her children said he was blindsided by reports of the criminal charges.

www.tmj4.com

Family of mother charged in child neglect case say 'they had no idea' about circumstances​

The brother of a woman facing felony charges related to her children said he was blindsided by reports of the criminal charges.

"Those poor babies. We had no idea. Don't think for a second if we had an idea we wouldn't have taken care of that. I don't know what went wrong or where it went wrong," Matt Koch said.

Matt, overwhelmed with frustration, said he would not defend his sister and called the situation disgusting. He questioned why Manke did not do more to help the children.

"Why didn't he step in and be like, 'Hey, this isn't right?' Because of an argument? Does he have a spine," Matt said.

His biggest concern is the children. Matt stated his mother is struggling to get answers.

"Where can these kids go to get the help that they so desperately need now," Matt asked. "Those kids need around-the-clock care right now."

My question is, When did they last see the children?. Talk to them?. They didn't get that way overnight.

 

[GrandmaBear]

My question is, When did they last see the children?. Talk to them?. They didn't get that way overnight.

I'd like to know that too. Did they know she HAD children? And if so had they ever seen them? And if not, but had seen her, did they question why no children? Etc.

I agree with him on the man. And can't believe they let him out on a joke of low bond. He provided the house of horror, the torture chamber for these children and knew full well what was going on. Did he feed them, bathe them, clothe them, school them, save them? NO. Did he starve them, confine them, etc. as well? YES.

 

[Mel70]

WHY would anyone choose to live like that and treat their children worse than animals??? I don't get it. It makes me wonder, how could they live in that house with the smell it must have been?
How did the kids stay alive, if they were not fed?? Was she just too lazy or what?
Oh, and then to try to justify everything with some stupid answer about the "nosy neighbors."
My heart hurts.

This goes wayyyyy beyond lazy. Hoarding, Living in absolute filth, Feces. The children were covered in it. They weren't too lazy to beat them. Yeah, to keep them from bothering "Nosey neighbors". Riiight. More like keeping neighbors from noticing something was very wrong. And this is going on right now, In cases we don't know about. And cases DCFS are failing to protect children.

 

[Mel70]

When Jesus said, “Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me,” He was reaching out to a segment of society that was thought to be insignificant. Children, in their weakness and vulnerability, have much to teach us as adults. As we grow, the hardness of the world often makes our hearts callous.

 

[KareBear]

Haven't read on it but yeah and vice versa if she bailed her son out and had him there she wouldn't be an option for the children.

BUT should he be out and it be an issue?? Even his mom it sounded like tried from what you said but when NO ONE, not just mom, ever seemed to treat these children well, him included, why should any of them have them AND I guess I just fear for where they will end up. It will maybe be better than in their own feces, etc. but not by much.

I hate to sound like I am stereotyping but he was the male, put your FOOT down, it is YOUR house an say you treat your kids right or get OUT etc. and call her in.

I just don't think he is some innocent here. Not saying you do either. Just talking generally. It can be great to be a do gooder so long as that do good thing isn't enableing a bad doer if that makes any sense?

Absolutely, in the least he is guilty of being a coward, at the devastating expense of children's welfare. There is never, ever, I mean EVER, a valid excuse to look the other way when children are being neglected and abused. He 100% enabled her, standing by doing nothing. He is just as guilty as she is by looking the other way and not protecting them. He might've made bail, but if the justice system is just, he will be back behind those bars.

 

[KareBear]

When Jesus said, “Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me,” He was reaching out to a segment of society that was thought to be insignificant. Children, in their weakness and vulnerability, have much to teach us as adults. As we grow, the hardness of the world often makes our hearts callous.

Yes, children are so innocent and accepting. They see another kid and say, "hey there's a kid, let's be friends and play!" There is no, let's screen them to see if we like them then ask them to play. As adults, we become untrusting and do a lot more judging of people before we consider letting them into our circle; with good reason, ofcourse, but children don't have ulterior motives and they don't need such filters on the playground. How sad it is that these children had to learn to trust nobody at their ages (except, maybe, each other). So sad.

 

[Guess Who]

Absolutely, in the least he is guilty of being a coward, at the devastating expense of children's welfare. There is never, ever, I mean EVER, a valid excuse to look the other way when children are being neglected and abused. He 100% enabled her, standing by doing nothing. He is just as guilty as she is by looking the other way and not protecting them. He might've made bail, but if the justice system is just, he will be back behind those bars.

It seems to me by looking at the pics they have posted that the bulk of the problems appear to have amped up drastically when HE was added to the mix. By all appearances, most of the posting of the pics of the kids stopped after they were together. Not buying his story.

 

[GrandmaBear]

Absolutely, in the least he is guilty of being a coward, at the devastating expense of children's welfare. There is never, ever, I mean EVER, a valid excuse to look the other way when children are being neglected and abused. He 100% enabled her, standing by doing nothing. He is just as guilty as she is by looking the other way and not protecting them. He might've made bail, but if the justice system is just, he will be back behind those bars.

Agreed. Justice though to me would mean he wouldn't have been given such a bail to begin with. There's probably reason but then that reasoning/law is wrong imo. Maybe as they investigate he will face other charges but for now he is free.

 

[GrandmaBear]

It seems to me by looking at the pics they have posted that the bulk of the problems appear to have amped up drastically when HE was added to the mix. By all appearances, most of the posting of the pics of the kids stopped after they were together. Not buying his story.

Where's that, like on FB?

Well then they need to go harder on him and find out more and slap some more charges on him.

 

[Kimster]

It seems to me by looking at the pics they have posted that the bulk of the problems appear to have amped up drastically when HE was added to the mix. By all appearances, most of the posting of the pics of the kids stopped after they were together. Not buying his story.

I’m not buying his story, either. He knew what was going on. He’s culpable.

 

[KareBear]

It seems to me by looking at the pics they have posted that the bulk of the problems appear to have amped up drastically when HE was added to the mix. By all appearances, most of the posting of the pics of the kids stopped after they were together. Not buying his story.

This is interesting to note, for sure. Now I suspect that he may be the responsible for her (recent) drug use, saying this without knowing anything of her background or prior drug history.