'I failed my children': Natalie Finn's father sentenced to 30 years in prison

STEPHEN GRUBER-MILLER   | The Des Moines Register

The father who helped his ex-wife confine their adoptive children to a room where one of them starved to death will spend 30 years in prison, a judge said Friday.

Joseph Finn II, 47, appeared at the Polk County Courthouse Friday afternoon where District Court Judge Robert Hanson sentenced him for three counts of assault while participating in a felony causing serious injury. Finn pleaded guilty to the crimes in March as part of a deal with prosecutors.

"I failed my children as a parent when they needed me the most. And I have to live with that for the rest of my life," Finn said, promising to accept the court's punishment.

He also repeated what he said during his plea hearing: his ex-wife, Nicole Finn, "painted a picture of distrust and lies by the children" that he was manipulated into believing. Nicole Finn received three life sentences in January for her role in the death of their adopted daughter, 16-year-old Natalie Finn.

The charges against Joseph Finn are related to three of his adopted children, Natalie, Jaden and Mikayla. They were being deprived of adequate food and water between Dec. 1, 2015, and Oct. 25, 2016, while in Nicole Finn's custody.

The deprivation of food and water caused serious injury to Jaden and Mikayla and caused Natalie a serious injury resulting in her death on Oct. 24, 2016. At the time of her death, she was emaciated and weighed just 81 pounds. The average weight for a teen her age and height is 125 pounds.

Jaden and Mikayla spoke in their father's defense Friday, reading victim impact statements in court that echoed Finn's argument that he was manipulated.

"I think that he was so confused and that Nicole Finn had him tied up in a knot," Mikayla said. "I do believe him when he says he was manipulated by Nicole because she manipulated me, too."

Finn described the history of his relationship with his children, beginning with the day he became their parent.

"The adoption hearings were heard in this building," Finn said in court. "I do recall on those days that those adoption hearings took place that I was very proud to be their father and it was one of the happiest days of my life."

Prosecutors argued Finn should receive three concurrent sentences for a total of 30 years, saying the children “suffered absolute horror at the hands of their parents.”

"He was always their dad and there’s no excuse for when he turned a blind eye to what their mother was doing," Assistant Polk County Attorney Nan Horvat said.

Hanson agreed with prosecutors, telling Finn "what I'm about to say is going to sound very harsh."

"I think you’re wallowing in self-pity. I think you’re a bit of a manipulator yourself, consciously or subconsciously," Hanson told Finn, saying he did not believe Finn has accepted responsibility for what happened to the children.

"You didn’t treat these kids as your children," Hanson said. "No parent would treat their children this way. You treated them as prisoners."

The three children shared a room in Nicole Finn's West Des Moines home and were not allowed to leave it without her permission. That confinement included needing clearance to leave to use the bathroom.

Joseph Finn did not live in the home after his 2011 divorce, and his lawyer said the father wasn't around his kids often. But Finn said in court in March that he had periodic opportunities to observe the children's physical condition and would often help his ex-wife with tasks designed to keep the children under her control.

Finn admitted to replacing carpeting in the children's bedroom soiled with urine and feces with linoleum, and to boarding up the children's window to prevent them from leaving the house. Both actions were done at the request of Nicole Finn.

When his children explained to him that they were going to the bathroom on the floor of their room because they hadn't received permission to leave, Finn said he didn't fully understand what was happening, but he "bought into" his ex-wife's version of events — something he now says he knows was wrong.

He agreed to replace the carpet in the room because he said he "considered it a health hazard for everyone in the house."

Nicole Finn asked Joseph Finn to help her board up a window in the children's bedroom in May 2016, he said. They were sneaking out into the neighborhood to ask for food and money, but at the time, he said, she told him she was worried they would be injured because the glass was cracked.

Several charges against Finn were dropped as part of a plea deal with prosecutors. He originally faced three counts of first-degree kidnapping, one count of child endangerment resulting in death, three counts of child endangerment resulting in serious injury and three counts of neglect or abandonment of a dependent person.