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Joel Kohnert and Jennifer Kohnert (Broward County Jail).
A firefighter from Florida and his wife are facing accusations of child abuse for allegedly subjecting their 12-year-old daughter to inhumane conditions. Authorities claim that Joel Christopher Kohnert, aged 44, and his wife, Jennifer Renee Kohnert, aged 45, routinely confined their daughter to her room at night and forced her to deal with her waste using her own clothing. Subsequently, she was reportedly made to bathe outdoors in a swimsuit.
The couple has been charged with child abuse without causing great bodily harm. The investigation by the Coral Springs Police Department commenced on February 11, following a disturbing report from the girl to a school resource officer. The young girl recounted that her parents locked her in her room nightly, citing accusations that she would wander around the house and take items from family members.
According to the affidavit, the child was not given access to a bathroom, compelling her to relieve herself in her room. She was then allegedly required to clean up the mess using her clothes and wash herself outside, regardless of weather conditions. The police report also mentioned that she had to wash her soiled clothes in a bucket outdoors.
The conditions in her room were reported as extremely sparse, with minimal furniture, no toys, and an air mattress as her bed.
Additionally, the girl accused her adoptive mother of physical abuse, claiming she had her hair pulled and was slapped to the point that her lip bled.
“[The victim] further reported being called derogatory names, including “little p—er’ and ‘s—ter,’ and being told she is bipolar like her biological mother,” cops wrote.
She said she is treated differently from the other six kids in the home and is subject to harsher discipline, per the affidavit. Those punishments allegedly include forcing her to tread water in the pool for up to 45 minutes and repeatedly write Bible verses.
Investigators interviewed the girl’s siblings, who confirmed much of the girl’s allegations. Cops also noted that the other kids’ bedrooms were fully furnished and were not locked from the outside at night. Meanwhile, not only did the girl have few items in her bedroom, the family also used the space to store items like paint, cops said.
Jennifer Kohnert allegedly admitted to many of the allegations and acknowledged that the practices were unusual. She said the girl “would not thrive in her care and is willing to turn her back over to the State of Florida,” cops wrote. They had been caring for the girl since she was two months old.
Cops called out Joel Kohnert for knowing that locking the girl in the room is unsafe and creates hazards.
“This practice is particularly concerning given Joel’s professional background, where he would reasonably be expected to recognize the inherent safety risks associated with restricting a child’s ability to exit a room during an emergency,” cops wrote.
Investigators concluded that the Kohnerts’ treatment of the child is “cruel and excessive, resulting in significant emotional and psychological harm.”
The suspects were arrested on Tuesday and taken to the Broward County Jail on a $100,000 bond. In an appearance before a judge, their lawyer described the couple as “devout Christians” and “devoutly religious.”
The judge scoffed at that notion.
“When you allegedly have got a 12-year-old child who is locked in a room for upwards of three years and is forced to urinate and defecate in the room and then clean it up with her clothes, that is not a religious issue, that is something else,” the judge scolded, according to a courtroom report from local NBC affiliate WTVJ.
It appears the couple has since bonded out of jail.
WTVJ spoke with some neighbors who said they weren’t too surprised by the allegations.
“I know he is very controlling. I know that they would walk up and down the street, she wasn’t allowed to cut her hair, she wasn’t allowed to make friends with a lot of people,” a neighbor told the outlet. “They kept to themselves, the little times we could see the children they kept them in strollers covered.”
Joel Kohnert has reportedly been with Broward Fire Rescue for more than 15 years and is currently on unpaid leave.