In a recent court proceeding, a couple from Tennessee admitted guilt to aggravated child abuse and neglect, following the disturbing incident involving one of their four adopted daughters. This event, occurring over a year ago, revealed alarming signs of severe malnutrition after the young girl collapsed unexpectedly.

Upon calling emergency services for their 12-year-old daughter, Jason and Jessica Klimp uncovered a similar situation with her biological sister, also adopted by them. According to WBIR, both children were found to be in distressingly poor health.

The court sentenced the Klimps to a decade behind bars, denying them any chance of parole, and enforced a permanent no-contact order with the two affected daughters.

Uncertainty surrounds whether this restriction extends to the other two adopted children. The couple also has four biological children, whose current whereabouts remain unknown. At the time of the couple’s arrest, authorities referred the case to the state Department of Children’s Services, as reported by WVLT.

Details from the arrest warrant indicate that the 12-year-old victim had limited recollection of the events leading to her hospitalization, merely remembering that she collapsed unexpectedly.

“[She] was asked about what she eat while at home and she stated she eat from a bottle because she and her sister eat too much and would get sick, when asked to explain she couldn’t,” the warrant said.

Jason Klimp told investigators that he pureed their food because the two malnourished girls couldn’t eat solid food because of “trauma” they’d been through before they were adopted nine years ago.

The children also told investigators that the victim and her sister slept in plastic totes in the basement as punishment for wetting the bed. The children further said the girls weren’t allowed blankets in the basement, which was normally around 60 degrees.

Responding deputies thought the girl who had collapsed was 6 to 8 years old when they responded to the 911 call, WBIR said. The child’s true age was discovered after she was taken to East Tennessee Children’s Hospital in Knoxville.

A paramedic who responded to the scene said that the girl’s body temperature was 95.6 degrees and that her skin was so discolored that the called for a helicopter to take her to Knoxville.

The Klimps have been behind bars in Tennessee since February 2024, when they were arrested, and that will count as time served on their sentences. They will be allowed to serve the remainder in the home state of Michigan.