'A house of horrors': De Pere man gets 17 years in prison for abusing, sexually assaulting adopted children

BENITA MATHEW   | Green Bay Press-Gazette

GREEN BAY – A De Pere man was sentenced to 17 years in prison Wednesday for abusing four adopted children.

Donald A. Windey, 54, and his wife, Sharon M. Windey, 56, abused the children for 12 years before being charged. The Windeys' biological son, Steven D. Windey, 28, was also involved in the abuse, typically as the enforcer, according to court documents.

An investigator interviewed the children on Feb. 12, 2018, after Sharon Windey called De Pere police for a physical altercation in the home when the children refused to go to church the day before. 

Police had visited the Windeys' home before that day, but the children said the officers didn't believe them because their house didn't seem like the "typical house for abuse" and the children went to a good school, according to court documents.

De Pere police arrested Sharon, Donald and Steven Windey on Feb. 16, 2018. 

Following a six-day trial in January, Donald Windey was found guilty of eight counts of abusing the adopted children, including two counts of repeated sexual assault of children.

One of the children spoke in the hearing and said that while Donald Windey thought what he did was right, he should be held accountable, and an apology won't make a difference to the victims.

Donald Windey's family members and his religious leaders shared statements in court about his character, but Brown County Circuit Court Judge John Zakowski and prosecutor Wendy Lemkuil argued that most of them were limited in their view because they weren't living at the house at the time.

"This was a house of horrors behind closed doors," Lemkuil said.

Windey apologized in the hearing and said many of his and Sharon Windey's actions came from frustration because they "didn't know what we were doing" in raising the children.

Their son, Steven, was sentenced to 18 months of probation in February. Sharon Windey is serving four years in prison.

Zakowski said Donald Windey would serve a longer sentence than his wife because of the trauma and harm he imposed from sexually assaulting the girls. He said the couple should have even been flagged before adopting the children.

"The Windeys shouldn't have been able to adopt these children. They believe in corporal punishment," Zakowski said, adding, "you can't foster care children who have been abused and you can't adopt them."

According to a criminal complaint, police were contacted by school officials, social workers and others claiming the couple and their son were abusing the three children.

The fourth child, now an adult, had left the Windeys' home. She reported similar abuse when interviewed by police.

According to the criminal complaint and prosecution statements: 

• The children were required to do a prayer ritual while standing on one foot wearing nothing but underwear, and were beaten with a belt if they lost their balance and put their foot down.
• The girls were forced to sit on Donald Windey's lap and kiss him, and he fondled them in bed when their mother was away.
• Donald Windey forced a sick child to eat vomit-covered food after the child became ill during a meal.
• Steven Windey was often the designated enforcer of the physical abuse and put his hands around one of the children's throat during a Feb. 11, 2018, incident.
• Donald Windey told the children he was "seeing demons" and "hearing voices" who were telling him to treat the children in this manner and that by doing so he was doing right by God.
• Sharon Windey used food as a form of punishment — often serving oatmeal for all three meals because the children didn't like it. 
• Sharon and Donald Windey locked kitchen cupboards so the children didn't have easy access to food.
• Sharon and Donald Windey told the children they didn't like them anymore and that they could no longer call them Mom and Dad.
• Sharon and Donald Windey donated all of the children's belongings to Goodwill in February, leaving each child with a bed and five days' worth of clothes.

Donald Windey was found guilty of one felony count of repeated physical abuse of a child with probability of great bodily harm, as party to a crime; one felony count of strangulation and suffocation; four felony counts of mental harm to a child, as party to a crime; and two felony counts of repeated sexual assault of the same child.

He will also serve 16 years on extended supervision.