Houtzdale couple sentenced for abusing adopted children

Victims were reportedly beaten until they bled

CLEARFIELD — A Houtzdale couple charged with beating and abusing their six adopted children were sentenced to state prison Monday in Clearfield County Court.

Last May, Timothy Dean Krause, 52, and Barbara Jean Krause, 51, were charged by state police with multiple counts of assault, conspiracy and endangering the welfare of a child.

When they appeared before Judge Paul Cherry Monday, he commented that this was a despicable case and commented that they violated the trust they had with their children.

Prior to sentencing, both of them stated they loved the children with Timothy Krause saying he was “sorry this happened.”

Cherry sentenced each of them to a total of seven to 40 years in state prison for endangering the welfare of children, criminal conspiracy, six counts of simple assault, two counts of terroristic threats, six counts of recklessly endangering another person and six summary counts of harassment.

The victims in this case range from 12 to 16 years old and the abuse took place at their Houtzdale home, according to the affidavit.

They were reportedly beaten multiple times over several years with paddles, a walking stick, a board and back scratchers, sometimes until their buttocks would bleed. They were also beaten with the board until their knuckles bled.

As they were being beaten, trained dogs would bite them, and police say the children had scars from the attacks.

Food was reportedly withheld as another punishment and they were sometimes fed only eggs and water. They all slept in one room of the three-bedroom home with two of them sleeping on a thin mat on the floor, police said.

Their mother said she would slit their throats in their sleep and threatened another child with a gun and an ax, they told investigators.

After physical exams by a doctor in March, it was determined that the children “were physically abused and tortured by their parents.”

The doctor also found that the children who were being home schooled were one to two years behind in their school work, according to the report.