Officials allege 'abusive and cruel' conditions in Emmet County child abuse case

Brandon Hubbard

Staff Writer

A Harbor Springs couple will head to court in October on three felony child abuse charges for allegedly depriving their adopted children of nourishment, inflicting physical abuse and extreme disciplining.

Phillip Albert Loesch, 53, and wife, Kimberly Ann Loesch, 50, of Readmond Township are accused of three counts of child abuse in the second degree. Each charge carries a maximum 10 years in prison.

A pre-trial conference in the 90th District Court in Emmet County has been set for 2 p.m. Monday, Oct. 21, and a preliminary examination has been set for 3 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 23. Bond was previously set for both at $10,000 and contact is prohibited with the victims.

The case came to the Emmet County Sheriff's Office in mid-July, when a 13-year-old boy ran away from the home for two days, launching a two-day search by law enforcement and the U.S. Coast Guard in Traverse City throughout northern Emmet County. The boy was later found near a Cross Village home with only minor bug bites, but otherwise in good condition.

Not long after, all three adopted children were removed from the home.

"There's a reason people run away, and we wanted to find out what caused it," said Emmet County Sheriff Pete Wallin, in a statement last week.

All three charges charge the parents with "knowingly or intentionally" committing acts that would cause serious physical or mental harm to a child, as well as "regularly depriving them of sufficient nutrition."

The Emmet County Sheriff's Office affidavit for the charges alleges an extreme life for the three children.

Physical beatings consisted of strikes to the hands, head and buttocks with leather "spanking sticks" to the extent the children's hands were swollen and not able to be closed, the affidavit alleges.

The kids were also required to put their hands in cold buckets of water as punishment too, or to limit the swelling from the assaults.

The mother, Kimberly, is listed as the primary assailant of the physical abuse, but it would have happened with Phillip's knowledge or endorsement.

The adopted children were also required to spend "long hours upstairs during each day and not allowed to leave their room without permission," the affidavit states.

Most of the children's outdoor activity consisted of a walking path behind the home, but only accessible when allowed or instructed to walk it.

The parents monitored their actions in their rooms with a "baby gate, an alarm and a baby monitor."

Using the bathroom was allegedly allowed only with the parents' permission, which sometimes forced the children to have to relieve themselves in their rooms.

One boy was allegedly required to wear a cardboard box on his head to limit his looking around as a punishment to keep him from socializing.

The children also slept on the floor for several months with no mattress, pillows, sheets or covers, according to the court records.

Food was also insufficient. The children were not allowed food or drinks after 7 p.m. and an "inch of water to consume with lunch or dinner." A "bowl of soggy corn flakes" was fed to them every morning and a peanut butter sandwich for lunch and dinner were their "primary rations" each day.

"As a punishment, the children were also required to eat something called 'mush' consisting of corn, peas and vinegar. When the children vomited into the bowl of mush, they were then required to eat the vomit mixture as further punishment," the affidavit states.

The adopted children were also not allowed to eat with biological family members, court records show.

The prosecution notes when the children were removed from the home, both young boys were underweight and undersized for their ages.

Excessive exercise was also required of the boys, the charges state.

Large rocks and buckets of water were required to be held up for long periods of time and doing pushups with limited water was a form of punishment.

All three children tried to run from the home, the record notes.

"The environment created by these 'parents' for these children was characterized as completely controlling, domineering, coercive, hostile, punitive, unloving, abusive and cruel, such as to cause serious physical, emotional and mental damage to these children," the affidavit concludes.

The defense is disputing all the charges in the case.

"We are very confident these people are innocent," said Daniel Harris, a Petoskey-based attorney representing Phillip Loesch. Bryan Klawuhn, also located in Petoskey, is representing Kimberly Loesch. "There is overwhelming support from the people in their church and the community who know them, know the family and know the boys."

Harris says while communities may not like some crimes like drunk driving, domestic violence and child abuse, the charges alone don't make someone guilty.

"This isn't something that is new -- that all of a sudden there are problems with these boys," Harris said. "They have been treated by counselors for years and they have had issues for years. Basically, the detective thinks he has a better veracity on these boys than the counselors do."

Harris said he believes legal system and the judge will sort out the right outcome going forward.

"These people are innocent, period," Harris said.