Western Wis. Adoptive Parents Charged with Incest and Abuse

The Associated Press

John and Roseanne Kincheloe are both scheduled to be in Buffalo County court Wednesday in separate cases. John Kincheloe is charged with incest. Roseanne Kincheloe is charged with child abuse.

WEAU 13 News in Eau Claire obtained court records detailing the abuse that allegedly happened in the Eleva couple's home. According to police reports, Buffalo County investigators interviewed two young girls about the sexual and physical abuse back in November.

Five years ago, Roseanne Kincheloe talked to WEAU 13 News about why she and her husband believed so strongly in adoption.

"God has never let us down even when he's given me choices I didn't ask for," Roseanne Kincheloe told us at an adoption fair in November of 2006.

This past November, she was charged with child abuse. John Kincheloe charged the same day with incest.

Police reports show a 10-year-old girl told investigators “she has private time with her father in the bathroom." She said John Kincheloe, her adopted father, forced her to perform oral sex. She said he "told her not to tell anyone" and told investigators "it is still happening."

The same day, a nine-year-old girl said "living at home is kinda bad, kinda good when momma isn't so bad to us, when she is calm." The girl said "her mother (Roseanne Kincheloe) hit her with a broom" and "strangled her in the bathroom and asked her if she wanted to live or die."

"We thought having two children was perfect for us and we learned differently," Roseanne Kincheloe said in 2006.

At the adoption fair, Roseanne Kincheloe said their adoptive journey started in 2000 when she and her husband decided to be foster parents. She said she felt called to do more and give back.

Roseanne Kincheloe also worked as a volunteer crisis responder in 2008. Back then, she worked with abuse victims at crime scenes in Eau Claire County.

John Kincheloe also faces additional charges after investigators say they found stolen needles in his car and he admitted to stealing other medicine from the kids.