exposing the dark side of adoption
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Father barred from visiting kids Man charged with abusing five adopted from foster care

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Author: DAVID DOEGE; Journal Sentinel staff

A St. Francis man charged with physically abusing some of his five children he locked in their dark rooms for up to 14 hours each night was ordered Wednesday to have no contact with the children while his case is pending.

The man, who with his wife was also a county foster parent to two other children, was prohibited from contacting the five children, who were adopted from foster care, after a prosecutor told a court commissioner authorities were worried about witness tampering in the case.

"The children are potential witnesses," Assistant District Attorney Joanne Hardtke explained later to a reporter. "There have been reports that there may have been promises offered to them already."

Hardtke also said that she was not finished reviewing the case and that additional charges could be filed against the man as well as his wife, who has not been charged. Since she has not been charged, the mother can continue having supervised contact with the children.

All seven children were removed from the St. Francis home last month after police began investigating the doings in the house.

All five of the children adopted from foster care are developmentally disabled.

The father and mother have been Milwaukee County foster parents since 1990. The father, a 54-year-old laborer, has been charged with child abuse in a criminal complaint that says he whipped some of his children with a belt.

After the man was charged, he was permitted by a children's court judge to have supervised contact with the children in spite of the criminal case involving him and them.

When the man appeared in circuit court for a preliminary hearing Wednesday afternoon, a proceeding he eventually waived, Hardtke asked Court Commissioner Julia Vosper to bar the man from having any contact with the children.

"I don't believe that even under supervised contact the children are adequately protected," Hardtke told Vosper.

In approving Hardtke's request, Vosper made the contact prohibition a condition of the man's bail provisions. He is free on a personal recognizance bond.

"Since this order is a condition of your bail," Vosper warned, "if you violate it, you could face additional charges (namely bail jumping)."

The man is scheduled to return to court next week when a trial date will be set.

2001 Apr 12