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Jennifer and Joseph Wolfthal (Seminole County Sheriff’s Office).
A Florida children’s book author and her husband are headed to prison for the horrifying abuse and neglect of their three adoptive children which included ruptured sores, beating with a “whacker” and feeding them only a mixture of cereal and vegetable puree.
Jennifer Wolfthal, 45, and Joseph Wolfthal, 43, on Monday pleaded guilty to aggravated child abuse and neglect of a child with great bodily harm. As part of the plea deal, a judge sentenced Jennifer Wolfthal to 12 years in prison while her husband will spend a decade behind bars. The abuse came to light on New Year’s Day 2021 when Joseph Wolfthal brought one of the kids to a hospital in Altamonte Springs, a suburb of Orlando.
Doctors quickly realized the child was in dire straits and transferred her to a hospital with a pediatric intensive care unit. She had a “staph infection, sepsis, renal and liver failure, open infected wounds on both legs and pneumonia in both lungs,” a probable cause arrest affidavit says. The sores on her right lower leg were infected and had ruptured, she had a chipped tooth, two black eyes and weighed just 40 pounds, which was “very underweight” for the girl’s age. Her age is redacted from the report.
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Joseph Wolfthal tried to blame the girl’s injuries on falls and brushing her teeth “too hard,” but based on the girl’s height and weight, investigators determined it was unlikely she could inflict these injuries upon herself. Deputies with the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office responded to the Wolfthal home where they found two other children in poor condition. They were removed from the home.
Two of the children were interviewed by investigators. Both described regular beatings at the hands of their adoptive parents. The Wolfthals would strike the kids with what they called a “whacker,” described as “being oblong and covered with fabric and was used regularly to deliver corporal punishment.” One of the kids also said that sometimes they were not allowed to eat until as late as 3 p.m., and when they were allowed to eat, food consisted of a mixture of cereal flakes, water and vegetable puree. Punishments, which the kids said occurred almost every night, also included exercises and writing sentences.
When cops searched the home they found over 1,100 written paragraphs 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.” Deputies also found 10 other phrases written multiple times.
The children are now living with another family. The 18th Judicial State Attorney’s Office released the following statement to Law&Crime about the plea:
“This plea and sentencing agreement ensures that the Wolfthals will spend significant time in prison while it protects the already-traumatized victims from the stress of having to testify,” the statement said. ” The State Attorney’s Office made sure law enforcement and the children’s new guardian supported this sentence before agreeing to it.”
Jennifer Wolfthal wrote a children’s book called A Real Friend, which remains on sale on Amazon for $6.32. Her biography described her own childhood.
“As a child, you would find her immersed in anything creative — drawing, dancing, and playing teacher with her stuffed animal students,” it reads.
The bio goes on to say she taught fourth grade for eight years before home schooling her own children. Her publisher, Clavis Publishing, denounced her after her arrest in a description of her book.
At Clavis, we believe that children are beautiful and deserve our utmost respect and care. That is why we publish books to enrich their lives and help them grow up learning to know themselves, how to interact with others in a good way and how the world works. We were made aware of horrific news regarding one-time, Clavis’ author Jennifer Wolfthal’s arrest and strongly condemn child abuse, abandonment and neglect, today and always. We will do what’s within our power to cease commercialization of her book further.
