'She wasn't allowed to make friends': Firefighter, wife locked 12-year-old adopted daughter in room for years, while siblings were cared for, police say

A Florida firefighter and his woman allegedly locked their 12-year-old girl successful her country astatine nighttime for years and forced her to cleanable up her feces with her ain apparel earlier making her bathe extracurricular successful a swimsuit.

Joel Christopher Kohnert, 44, and Jennifer Renee Kohnert, 45, look charges of child abuse without large bodily harm. According to a probable origin apprehension affidavit, the Coral Springs Police Department began investigating connected Feb. 11, erstwhile the miss told a schoolhouse assets serviceman that her parents would fastener her successful her country from the extracurricular astatine nighttime implicit "claims that she wandered the location and took items from household members."

She besides said she did not person entree to a bathroom, which resulted successful her urinating oregon defecating connected herself. The pursuing greeting she would beryllium forced to cleanable it up with her ain apparel and past bathe extracurricular successful her swimsuit nary substance the weather, the affidavit stated. She besides had to cleanable the soiled covering extracurricular successful a bucket, according to police.

Her country had minimal furniture, nary toys and she slept connected an aerial mattress, cops wrote.

The miss besides accused her adopted parent of pulling her hairsbreadth and slapping her, which caused her articulator to bleed.

"[The victim] further reported being called derogatory names, including 'little p—er' and 's—ter,' and being told she is bipolar similar her biologic mother," cops wrote.

She said she is treated otherwise from the different six kids successful the location and is taxable to harsher discipline, per the affidavit. Those punishments allegedly see forcing her to tread h2o successful the excavation for up to 45 minutes and repeatedly constitute Bible verses.

Investigators interviewed the girl's siblings, who confirmed overmuch of the girl's allegations. Cops besides noted that the different kids' bedrooms were afloat furnished and were not locked from the extracurricular astatine night. Meanwhile, not lone did the miss person fewer items successful her bedroom, the household besides utilized the abstraction to store items similar paint, cops said.

Jennifer Kohnert allegedly admitted to galore of the allegations and acknowledged that the practices were unusual. She said the miss "would not thrive successful her attraction and is consenting to crook her backmost implicit to the State of Florida," cops wrote. They had been caring for the miss since she was 2 months old.

Cops called retired Joel Kohnert for knowing that locking the miss successful the country is unsafe and creates hazards.

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"This signifier is peculiarly concerning fixed Joel's nonrecreational background, wherever helium would reasonably beryllium expected to admit the inherent information risks associated with restricting a child's quality to exit a country during an emergency," cops wrote.

Investigators concluded that the Kohnerts' attraction of the kid is "cruel and excessive, resulting successful important affectional and intelligence harm."

The suspects were arrested connected Tuesday and taken to the Broward County Jail connected a $100,000 bond. In an quality earlier a judge, their lawyer described the mates arsenic "devout Christians" and "devoutly religious."

The justice scoffed astatine that notion.

"When you allegedly person got a 12-year-old kid who is locked successful a country for upwards of 3 years and is forced to urinate and defecate successful the country and past cleanable it up with her clothes, that is not a spiritual issue, that is thing else," the justice scolded, according to a courtroom study from section NBC affiliate WTVJ.

It appears the mates has since bonded retired of jail.

WTVJ spoke with immoderate neighbors who said they weren't excessively amazed by the allegations.

"I cognize helium is precise controlling. I cognize that they would locomotion up and down the street, she wasn't allowed to chopped her hair, she wasn't allowed to marque friends with a batch of people," a neighbour told the outlet. "They kept to themselves, the small times we could spot the children they kept them successful strollers covered."

Joel Kohnert has reportedly been with Broward Fire Rescue for much than 15 years and is presently connected unpaid leave.