The Door County Children

The Defendant was a working mother of two children: B.W., a seven-year-old son, and C.P., an eight-year-old daughter. While the Defendant worked, she left the children at home with their father, her husband. During those hours alone with the children, her husband subjected them to extended and escalating abuse. B.W. reported to Police that he had been beaten with a metal stick on numerous occasions, forced to stand on one foot and one hand while being struck, and that his father had engaged in anal and oral intercourse with him. He was specific that he had told his mother about the beatings and that she had done nothing. C.P. reported similar sexual and physical abuse. On November 10, 1983, her husband beat B.W. on his right foot, ankle, and left thigh with a metal stick, leaving visible bruises. A Door County sheriff's sergeant conducted interviews with both children, her husband, the Defendant, and the children's physician. On November 15, 1983, the State of Wisconsin charged the Defendant with two counts of child abuse under Wisconsin Statute § 940.201 — not for inflicting the abuse herself, but for knowing about it and failing to take any action to protect her children.