Couple convicted of child abuse challenge sentence

By JULIE RAE RICKARD

CLEARFIELD – A Houtzdale couple sent to state prison for beating and abusing their six adopted children have asked a Clearfield County judge to reconsider their sentence.

In April, Timothy Dean Krause, 52, and Barbara Jean Krause, 51, were sentenced by Judge Paul Cherry 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.

At the time of sentencing, Cherry commented that this was a despicable case and noted they had violated the trust they had with their children.

During Tuesday’s motions court in Clearfield County, Barbara Krause’s attorney, Robert J. Freeman, asked the judge to reconsider the sentence because of the unusual circumstances of the case.

Freeman stated that he didn’t believe this case qualified for sentencing in the aggregated range.

“A longer sentence will not help the children,” he said.

Assistant District Attorney Jendi Schwab responded by saying that if there ever was a case that should be in the aggregated range, it was this case because of the severity of the abuse that continued “for years.”

She noted that the children were fed dog food and were starved to the point of malnutrition, and the children were “covered in scars.”

Schwab said this goes beyond violating parent/child trust.

“They had a life that was difficult beforehand and were supposed to get a better life with them.”

Timothy Krause’s attorney, Thomas P. Leiden, said that the sentence was “unreasonable” and stated his client was not a danger to the public.

Leiden said the 40-year maximum makes this a life sentence for Timothy Krause which “serves no purpose.” He also noted that all of the charges were misdemeanors with the felony aggravated assault charges being withdrawn.

Schwab argued that the assaults were “not one slap” but repeated slaps and other assaults left the children with bloody behinds.

Schwab responded that there was something “fitting” about the seven-year minimum sentence for people who had abused their children for that same amount of time.

Cherry denied both motions for reconsideration of sentence.

According to the affidavit, a doctor determined that the children “were physically abused and tortured by their parents.”

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