One of the children was diagnosed with pneumonia during a hospital visit and was found with bruises and open wounds. A Florida couple — including a woman who authored children's books — has pleaded guilty to abusing their adopted children inclduing spanking them until they bled and making them sleep on wet beds.
![[Jennifer Wolfthal and Joseph Wolfthal pleaded guilty to charges that they abused their adopted children at their home in Florida]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/15/21/Jennifer-and-Joseph-Wolfthal-1.jpg)
Prosecutors agreed to drop three counts of kidnapping brought against the couple in exchange for their plea. Jennifer Wolfthal — the author of a children’s book titled A Real Friend — is set to be sentenced to 12 years in prison, and her husband faces a 10-year sentence, according to the plea deal. The two faced more than 100 years in prison if convicted.
![[According to police interviews with the children, their parents sometimes doused their beds with cold water and forced them to sleep in them overnight]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/15/21/Jennifer-and-Joseph-Wolfthal.jpg)
In addition to her diagnosis, she was also malnourished, was suffering from multiple bruises, and had several open wounds. The young girl weighed just 40 pounds when she was brought to the hospital. Joseph told police that the girl’s injuries were the result of falls and “brushing her teeth too hard.”.
The child’s condition was enough for police to arrest the parents on suspicion of neglect and abuse. Jennifer made bail, but was arrested later in January on charges of false imprisonment of a child under the age of 13, according to PEOPLE. According to police interviews with the children, their parents sometimes doused their beds with cold water and forced them to sleep in them overnight.
