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Episode 46: Death by Discipline: The Ethan Hauschultz Story
32 Plays2 months ago
Sometimes the system fails, this case is a prime example, it took the death of a sweet little innocent 7 year old to get laws changed, the only good thing to come from this tragic, horrific story. Rest in peace sweet boy and smile down from Heaven knowing that you will save lives of other children through law changes.
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Transcript
Morning Recording Challenges
00:00:37
Briana
What's up, you beautiful bitches?
00:00:39
Eden & Briana
Hello, hello. We hope this sounds good to... What?
00:00:44
Briana
Happy Sunday. happy Sunday.
00:00:46
Eden & Briana
Oh yeah, happy Sunday and early morning Sunday. So if we trip it over our words, I mean, this is the first time we've recorded in the AM.
00:00:50
Briana
Get in.
00:00:55
Briana
Yeah, I think so.
00:00:56
Eden & Briana
Yeah, usually it's mid-afternoon.
00:00:57
Briana
I mean, my voice is still froggy from waking up to...
00:01:01
Eden & Briana
Oh yeah. and I haven't had enough coffee, so I'll probably do a lot of... Oh.
Plans for the Jump Park
00:01:08
Eden & Briana
So what's new, Heifer?
00:01:11
Briana
Not a whole lot, honestly.
00:01:14
Eden & Briana
Yeah, you just sound a little rough.
00:01:16
Briana
Yeah, a little bit, but we do, we do.
00:01:19
Eden & Briana
You got the wakey-wakey voice. We're recording remote because we have a big day planned.
00:01:27
Eden & Briana
Are you going to jump at the jump park?
00:01:30
Briana
Yeah, probably me and Dean will probably take turns with our blind little bat.
00:01:35
Eden & Briana
Leland? Blind little bat, turd-turd.
00:01:39
Briana
Turd turd.
00:01:42
Eden & Briana
Yeah, um is is the older one going or no?
00:01:46
Briana
Yes.
00:01:47
Eden & Briana
Okay, I think my older is coming also.
00:01:51
Briana
Okay.
00:01:52
Eden & Briana
So that's good.
00:01:53
Briana
Yep. Yeah.
00:01:55
Eden & Briana
um I don't know if I'm gonna jump because, you know, age and brittle bones and broken hips.
00:02:03
Briana
yeah
00:02:06
Eden & Briana
You never know though. So welcome, what?
00:02:09
Briana
Yeah. ah Yeah, you never know.
February Awareness Themes
00:02:13
Eden & Briana
You never know. So welcome back, guys. I'm Eden, and with me is my adorable Chitlin Brianna.
00:02:20
Briana
Hello.
00:02:21
Eden & Briana
Hello. um Guess what it is?
00:02:24
Briana
Is that me?
00:02:30
Briana
Guess what what is? Oh, it's February 2nd.
00:02:33
Eden & Briana
It's the beginning of the month.
00:02:35
Briana
That means we get to do awarenesses.
00:02:38
Eden & Briana
We do. So I have a list of the more popular ones, which includes American Heart Month, National Cancer Prevention Month, Black History Month, Financial Aid Awareness Month, Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month, and Ethnic Equality Month.
00:03:05
Briana
Nice.
00:03:05
Eden & Briana
Quite a diversity of
00:03:07
Briana
Yeah.
00:03:08
Eden & Briana
Yeah, yeah.
00:03:10
Briana
So what do you got for true crab news?
00:03:13
Eden & Briana
Well, this one's gonna not make you happy, I don't think.
Tragic Fire Incident
00:03:21
Briana
Oh boy.
00:03:22
Eden & Briana
Okay, so in true crime news, a 46 year old woman in Grand Rapids, Michigan is facing multiple charges for allegedly setting her home on fire while her three children were were still inside.
00:03:37
Eden & Briana
leading to the death of one of her daughters. When the firefighters arrived, they found the home totally engulfed in flames. They rescued ah three juveniles from the residence. While their mother told them that her daughter was still upstairs in an upstairs bedroom, firefighters placed themselves directly in harm's way to save the 12-year-old girl's life. CPR was performed before transporting her to the hospital where she would die from her injuries two days later.
00:04:07
Eden & Briana
Now, for more information on this horrific story and others, you can visit truecrimenews dot.com. I did read the whole story because as a mom, I needed to know more and how.
00:04:18
Eden & Briana
So allegedly is what she's claiming is that there are mental health issues that apparently she was unable to find any health help for. That's her, that's her jam, yeah.
00:04:31
Briana
Excuse? How can there not be any help?
00:04:41
Eden & Briana
Well, that is exactly what I was thinking because every corner you turn around, there's help, whether it's online or in office or your doctor, there's help everywhere.
00:04:52
Briana
I'm sorry.
00:04:54
Eden & Briana
There's hotline. Huh?
00:04:58
Briana
I'm sorry, but um You could go to the hospital.
00:05:03
Eden & Briana
Bingo.
00:05:05
Briana
You could go to the fire department.
00:05:07
Eden & Briana
Bingo. They could have put her on a cycle and everything else.
00:05:12
Briana
You could go to the police station.
00:05:18
Briana
But the number one place would probably be the hospital.
00:05:18
Eden & Briana
ye She could have picked up her phone and called a hotline to calm her and talk her down and
00:05:21
Briana
So don't tell me that there isn't help out there.
00:05:31
Eden & Briana
get an ambulance there and take her to the hospital.
00:05:34
Briana
you know
00:05:34
Eden & Briana
There was so many things that could have been handled different. Now I, I haven't walked a mile in her shoes, so I can't tell you what she was going through, but there's help out there guys.
00:05:41
Briana
Yup.
00:05:45
Eden & Briana
And using that as an excuse, um, is complete and utter bullshit to me, but we'll see how that, we'll see how that plays out.
00:06:00
Briana
Yeah, oof. Okay.
00:06:05
Eden & Briana
Okay.
00:06:07
Briana
So what are we doing today?
Ethan Hauschultz's Case
00:06:10
Eden & Briana
Well, I named this one Death by Discipline. It is the murder of Ethan Hashels. And this is a really new case. In fact, one person has not went to trial yet, but we'll touch base on that later.
00:06:28
Briana
Okay.
00:06:30
Eden & Briana
So for this episode, we're going to Newton, Wisconsin and Manitowoc County. And I'm sorry if I totally murder these pronunciations on this Manitowoc.
00:06:45
Eden & Briana
And this is in 2018.
00:06:48
Briana
Oh wow.
00:06:49
Eden & Briana
This one was hard for me to put together just because I really couldn't find the perfect starting point. So bear with me as I kind of try to muddle my way through it. So in 2016, Manitoba County Human Services, which from here on out, instead of saying that hard word that I'm sure I'm not pronouncing right, I'm going to call it MCHS. So they removed Ethan and two of his siblings from their mother's residence after documenting three cases of child neglect and one case of child abuse against adults who lived in the house.
00:07:26
Eden & Briana
In about the span of two years, police were called to the residence approximately 50 times for various reasons, including noise complaints, 911 hangups, dogs at large, disorderly conduct, child abuse, suspicious persons, underage drinking, and curfew violations.
00:07:48
Briana
Wow.
00:07:48
Eden & Briana
So kind of sounds like a rough place at that point in time for the kids to be.
00:07:57
Briana
I would say.
00:07:59
Eden & Briana
So MCHS did what is known as a kinship care placement. So Ethan and his two siblings were sent to live with their great uncle, Timothy Schultz.
00:08:12
Eden & Briana
shout Residing in the residence was Tim's wife, Tina and her son, Damian, and Tim's daughter. So there was already four in the household.
00:08:26
Eden & Briana
Their home in Newton was spacious enough to accommodate all children with over 300 square feet of living space that included five bedrooms three and three baths sitting on just shy of two acres of land. Tim ran a barn painting business, which was quite successful, and Tina attended community college during the week in Green Bay.
00:08:51
Briana
and
00:08:51
Eden & Briana
Compared to the living situation the kids came from, this should have been perfect.
00:08:57
Briana
Yeah, I would say.
00:09:00
Eden & Briana
But that would, what?
00:09:00
Briana
It sounds like a nice home. It sounds like a nice home.
00:09:02
Eden & Briana
Go ahead.
00:09:05
Eden & Briana
Actually, I've seen a picture of it. It looks like a beautiful home, but it being perfect, yep, behind closed doors, um being a safe, perfect environment is going to turn out to be the farthest thing from the truth.
00:09:11
Briana
Behind closed doors.
00:09:22
Briana
Great.
00:09:24
Eden & Briana
And the part of this that's really infuriated me, well, all of it infuriated me, but why they were placed there in the first place, which I'm not gonna touch until the end, just baffled the crap out of me.
00:09:41
Briana
Great.
00:09:45
Eden & Briana
Just, yep. So here we go. You
Abusive Discipline Details
00:09:50
Eden & Briana
ready? I'm gonna take a drink of my coffee, you guys. I need to... get the old sleep out of my throat.
00:09:59
Eden & Briana
Oh, my coffee got a little cold. So Ethan and his twin sister, and this was in 2016, would soon figure out that they had entered a new kind of nightmare.
00:10:19
Eden & Briana
Tim was a control freak who submitted the kids to horrific discipline. He was ah his house, his rules, and there would be health pay if you broke any of his rules kind of guy. One of his favorite forms of discipline was referred to as the log, where the kid being punished would have to make laps around the property carrying a log for two hours with a five second break every 10 minutes. The log would weigh some 40 plus pounds. So in the absence of Tim and Tina, Damien and his stepsister were responsible for the kids. The stepsister was to get the kids up and ready for school while Damien was expected to oversee any punishments that Tim dolled out.
00:11:17
Eden & Briana
Um, at the age of 14, Damien stood five foot 11 and weighed in at 168 pounds. So he was perfect for the job. He was basically a hulking 14 year old. On April 19th, 2018, Ethan brought a note home from his teacher saying that he had gotten in trouble that day for talking back and what kid doesn't talk back once in a while.
00:11:47
Eden & Briana
common ah occurrence, they gotta learn. And as one probably suspected, this didn't go over too well with Tim. And so Ethan would be handed down the log punishment to be carried out the next day and to be overseen by Damien in Tim's absence because he would be off at his job. It just don't happen that night.
00:12:13
Eden & Briana
A storm dumped almost a foot of snow leaving the yard a mix of mud, slush, and snow. I think they called that storm Evelyn or something like that. I can't remember. It was quite a big storm, but it it dumped massive amounts of snow in a small period of time.
00:12:32
Eden & Briana
um
00:12:35
Eden & Briana
The weather happened to be quite cold and miserable and being outside overseeing Ethan was the absolute last thing that Damien wanted to do that day.
00:12:46
Eden & Briana
Any other day, Damien rather enjoyed being Tim's enforcer. It went right along with his bullying disposition. However, this day having to be outside just really pissed him off.
00:13:01
Eden & Briana
He didn't want to be outside.
00:13:02
Briana
do think Do you think Damien enjoys it because he's gone through it?
00:13:12
Eden & Briana
That could be a possibility. That could very much be a possibility. Cause I know in some of the resources that I read, Damien had been subjected to the log punishment himself.
00:13:28
Eden & Briana
So possibly it's hard to get into the mind of what kids are thinking.
00:13:29
Briana
So now he's kind of being the scapegoat for gay man.
00:13:45
Eden & Briana
So Damien instructed Ethan to pick up a log weighing upwards of 44 pounds and to get walking. Now remember, and I'm not sure if I said this, but this baby is only seven years old.
00:13:59
Briana
Seven.
00:14:00
Eden & Briana
Yes, ma'am.
00:14:02
Briana
They can't carry 40 plus pounds.
00:14:02
Eden & Briana
Not only it's 44, this one happened to be 44 plus pounds. So
00:14:11
Eden & Briana
Not only is he trying to get himself through the foot of snow slush and ice, he's carrying a log that weighs more than half of his weight. He probably weighed between 60 and 65 pounds and this thing weighed 44. That's almost like three quarters of his weight. As I was writing this,
00:14:35
Eden & Briana
I got to thinking that maybe some of our listeners have never been in these conditions. So I tried hard to think of something to compare it to. And the only thing that I could think of is when you're trying to walk in a lake that has a really greasy, muddy bottom that suctions your feet down in it, making every step a struggle and exhaust you by maybe like the second or third step. That's the best thing that I could liken it to. Can you can you think of anything what it's like to Try to mush through a foot of snow and slush and mud.
00:15:10
Briana
put 10 pounds of weight on your feet and try walking through water. I mean, that's, I think your example is perfect.
00:15:18
Eden & Briana
Yeah, maybe. No. I think it literally feels like your legs are made of rubber and maybe you could liken it to doing leg day every day.
00:15:33
Eden & Briana
many days in a row for an extended period of time.
00:15:36
Briana
Yeah.
00:15:36
Eden & Briana
You know, how your legs just get weak and they don't, you know, they're just exhausted. that That's the best I could come up with. um So each time Ethan fell, obviously he's struggling, right?
00:15:52
Briana
Oh!
00:15:54
Eden & Briana
Okay. Damien would take out his frustrations by kicking and beating the boy. And I'm not talking just so beating, but a beating with the buckle end of a belt.
00:16:05
Briana
oh
00:16:07
Eden & Briana
When the buckle finally broke, Damien found a big stick to hit him with.
00:16:16
Eden & Briana
Ethan would endure over 100 hits, kicks, jabs, and lashes. excuse me After about an hour, Damien ordered Ethan to get in a water puddle.
00:16:29
Eden & Briana
When the boy hesitated, Damien shoved him into the puddle, continuing to kick and hit the boy. At one point, Damien stood on Ethan's back and head, also holding his head under the watery slush. Now, do you remember how much Damien weighs?
00:16:49
Briana
Yeah.
00:16:51
Eden & Briana
Damien weighs 168 pounds, and he is standing on the back and the head of a 60-pound, seven-year-old.
00:17:02
Briana
That's gotta to do internal damage.
00:17:07
Eden & Briana
So Ethan would endure this treatment for almost an hour when Damien told him to get up.
Delayed Help and Consequences
00:17:15
Eden & Briana
Now remember, he's in an icy, slushy, snowy water puddle. This shit's cold. And he's been in this puddle for the way I read it.
00:17:28
Eden & Briana
an hour, unless I read it wrong. Okay, so Ethan was unable to get up. By this time, the only thing Ethan was really doing was making weak moans and twitching movements. So one would think that it would be at this time that Damien would put a halt to the punishment.
00:17:55
Eden & Briana
Instead, He removed Ethan's boots and jacket and buried him in the snow, leaving his face uncovered so he could breathe. It would be at this point, Damien would go in the house where he stayed for the next 20 to 30 minutes, leaving Ethan buried in the snow. Now this next part, I can't quote this,
00:18:18
Eden & Briana
But I did read in one of my mini documents on this case that the snow Ethan was buried under was estimated to weigh around 80 pounds. But dummy, I forgot to bookmark it for later reference. And do you think I could find it again? So take that info as you wish, since I don't have documentation to back that estimated weight up. But at least you all get the general idea of what Ethan was going through being buried in the snow.
00:18:48
Briana
But I mean, think about it.
00:18:48
Eden & Briana
Not only say that again, sweetheart.
00:18:52
Briana
Think about it. Wet snow is a lot heavier than when the snow first hits the ground.
00:19:00
Eden & Briana
Yeah, the fluffy, light, beautiful, great snow that's easy to walk through. Yeah, no, this is melting.
00:19:05
Briana
Yeah. The water slush, and it compacts a lot easier.
00:19:13
Eden & Briana
Yup.
00:19:15
Briana
So that doesn't... surprise me that it is around 60 pounds.
00:19:24
Eden & Briana
They estimated it at 80.
00:19:27
Briana
Oh, 80.
00:19:28
Briana
Oh, I
00:19:28
Eden & Briana
Yeah.
00:19:30
Eden & Briana
But I can't quote that because I forgot to bookmark where that was referenced from. So take it with a grain of salt, but I believe, I believe it.
00:19:42
Eden & Briana
When Damien returned, no, I said he went in the house for 20 to 30 minutes. So when he returned, Ethan was unresponsive. Unable to rouse Ethan, Damien called Tim explaining that Ethan was, quote, acting like he was dead, unquote. When Tim arrived home, he found Ethan unresponsive. Tim ordered the kids to say that Ethan fell in the backyard. Then instead of calling the ambulance, they drove Ethan to the Holy Family Memorial Medical Center.
00:20:20
Eden & Briana
where despite their best best efforts, Ethan passed away at 9.22 p.m. Okay, so any questions so far? I'm gonna take a drink.
00:20:37
Briana
Was there an autopsy report done?
00:20:41
Eden & Briana
That is my next, yes. Yes, there is. And yeah we're gonna get to that for sure.
00:20:53
Eden & Briana
I just got to wet my whistle. So the doctors noted that the injuries Ethan sustained were not compatible with a backyard fall, and authorities were informed. When questioned, Damien said all he had done was to make Ethan, quote, a little cold, unquote. That's all he did. Just make Ethan a little cold.
00:21:23
Eden & Briana
Eventually, Damien confessed to the rest of it. And I'll tell you why he probably had no choice because we're going to get to the autopsy results. The autopsy of results yeah sorry the autopsy but result revealed strenuous physical punishment outdoors and prolonged environmental exposure as the cause of death.
00:21:51
Eden & Briana
Other findings aside from hypothermia included multiple blunt force trauma to the head causing an and an acute subdural hemorrhage, trauma to the abdomen and chest with a broken 11th rib causing a kidney bleed. There were abrasions and contusions to the head, neck, chest, abdomen, and back. And using infrared imaging,
00:22:21
Eden & Briana
it revealed a visible boot impression on Ethan's back.
00:22:27
Eden & Briana
Now, I thought I had put this in in up above, but somehow I must have missed it.
00:22:27
Briana
Wow.
00:22:34
Eden & Briana
So when Ethan would fall down holding that 44 pound log, there were times when he would fall down backwards with that landing on him and knocking his breath out.
00:22:38
Briana
Yeah. Makes sense.
00:22:47
Eden & Briana
Mm-hmm.
Legal Outcomes for the Hauschultzes
00:22:52
Eden & Briana
So just two months shy of a year on February 6th, 2019, three arrests were made in the death of little Ethan, which included 48-year-old Tim, thirty his wife, 35-year-old Tina, and a now 15-year-old Damien Hauschaltz.
00:23:03
Briana
Good.
00:23:12
Eden & Briana
Timothy Hauschaltz was charged with felony murder as a party to a crime two counts of intentionally contributing to the delinquency of a child resulting in death as a party to a crime, two counts of physical abuse of a child causing bodily harm as a party to a crime and misdemeanor battery as a party to a crime. Now, Tim's case was delayed for years. And in fact, it is set to go to trial February 24th now.
00:23:51
Briana
That's in like 20 days.
00:23:52
Eden & Briana
Yes, this month. So I am hoping this trial would be broadcasted on Court TV so I can follow. But if not, I'll keep extensive notes and give updates as I receive them. And we'll post links to the information on Facebook and in one of our future episodes. I'm going to stay on top of this.
00:24:13
Briana
Yeah.
00:24:15
Eden & Briana
So Tina Hashaltz was charged with two counts of intentionally contributing to the delinquency of a child resulting in death as a party to a crime and two counts of child abuse slash failure to prevent bodily harm as a party to a crime. She was sentenced to five years in prison.
00:24:40
Eden & Briana
Damien Hashaltz was charged with first degree reckless homicide, three counts felony child abuse, and three counts felony substantial battery and was sentenced to 20 years in prison plus 10 years of extended supervision.
00:24:59
Eden & Briana
So, anything mute?
00:25:01
Briana
That's it No Not really
00:25:04
Eden & Briana
Well, he was a minor, but yes, that's it. Now, anything you want to discuss before I get to the rest of this story?
00:25:20
Eden & Briana
Oh, I just want to bring it to attention that Ethan's, one of Ethan's siblings was his twin that was placed in the home. He was a twin.
00:25:34
Briana
Yep, I think he did mention that.
00:25:35
Eden & Briana
Did I mention that? That is so, yeah.
00:25:41
Briana
Wow.
00:25:41
Eden & Briana
So we are literally gonna get to the part of the story that just baffles me to absolutely no end.
Systemic Failures in Child Placement
00:25:52
Eden & Briana
It is my very, very strong opinion that Ethan and his siblings never should have been placed with Timothy Hauschultz to begin with. But something good does come out of this and I'll tell you about that at the end. So, Timothy had his first run-in with law at the age of 15 when some older members of the family were involved in a barroom brawl. Apparently, Tim assaulted one of the men with a tire iron.
00:26:26
Briana
Jesus.
00:26:29
Eden & Briana
At age 18, Tim and some of his friends beat a man so badly that he was in ICU for three days. Apparently, they accused the guy of stealing one of Tim's cassette tapes.
00:26:43
Briana
Wow.
00:26:43
Eden & Briana
A year after that, Tim held up a convenience store clerk with a butcher's knife for a measly 200 and some bucks. Before, be yeah excuse me,
00:26:56
Eden & Briana
I'm struggling. Give me just a second to take another drink.
00:27:10
Eden & Briana
Okay. Now, before he was sentenced, he asked the judge for help with his drinking and anger issues saying he may become violent again. He stated, quote, I put memories of darkness in people's minds.
00:27:26
Eden & Briana
I hurt people physically. If I don't change my life, they'll have to always be afraid of me or wonder if I'll attack them or anyone else again." unquote The district attorney at the time told the judge, quote the only thing this court can do to protect society from him is to put him in prison. unquote So he was sentenced to five and a half years in prison for the armed robbery. The judge said to Tim,
00:27:55
Eden & Briana
who already had one child with another one on the way that he had, quote, no business fathering children, unquote.
00:28:08
Briana
Wow.
00:28:09
Eden & Briana
Anything in that little part that you want to talk about?
00:28:13
Briana
Wow.
00:28:14
Eden & Briana
Okay, we're going to go on because it goes, it gets worse.
00:28:17
Briana
Great.
00:28:21
Eden & Briana
In 1999, at the age of 29, Once again, Tim got in a heated argument with a man and drug and and this was in a family restaurant. He drug him across the table and put a steak knife to his throat.
00:28:39
Eden & Briana
10 years after that, in the year 2009, Tim hit his 14-year-old with a carpenter's level across the arm and hit a 12-year-old, I think it was his 12-year-old, or maybe his wife at the time.
00:28:55
Eden & Briana
so stepchild maybe, and he hit that 12-year-old in the side with it for taking food to the living room and listening to music without asking. He went on to grab a three-foot board and backed the 14-year-old into a corner and and commenced to hit him with the board about the shoulders and head. He went into the kitchen and smashed the board on the kitchen table and threw it at one of the boys, resulting in a broken window.
00:29:23
Eden & Briana
which he then commanded the boys to clean up the mess. He was charged with felony child abuse.
00:29:33
Briana
I'm sorry.
00:29:33
Eden & Briana
his wife Say again.
00:29:36
Briana
You said felony child abuse.
00:29:39
Eden & Briana
Yes, ma'am.
00:29:42
Briana
Don't they have to do like a background check before they place children with families?
00:29:46
Eden & Briana
Yes, ma'am. Yes, ma'am. And we'll get to that.
00:29:55
Eden & Briana
We will totally get to that.
00:29:57
Briana
Oh, this is infuriating.
00:30:00
Eden & Briana
I told you.
00:30:03
Eden & Briana
So like I said, he was charged with felony child abuse. His wife at the time wrote the judge a letter before his sentencing s saying, quote, his mental status concerns me, unquote, pertaining to quote, the mind control tactics he uses with the boys, unquote.
00:30:25
Eden & Briana
Now, they had the 12-year-old fill out a form for the judge as to what he wanted to be included in the sentencing. And on this form, he circled, get help from a doctor or a counselor, stay away from me, and stay away from other kids. On one of the forms asking how he felt, the boy drew faces labeling them as sad and scared.
00:30:54
Eden & Briana
Tim pleaded no contest to felony child abuse charges. The judge found Timothy guilty, but because of a plea agreement, it was not on his record as a child abuse conviction. Providing for the next 18 months, Timothy stayed out of trouble. His charge would been then be the lesser sentence of disorderly conduct, which is a misdemeanor charge.
00:31:24
Briana
I'm sorry. um If you look back at his past,
00:31:35
Briana
ah one of the lengthiest times that he did something was 10 years.
00:31:40
Eden & Briana
Mm-hmm.
00:31:41
Briana
You're going to give this man 18 months on good behavior to get a misdemeanor charge.
00:31:43
Eden & Briana
Yep.
00:31:48
Eden & Briana
Yes.
00:31:51
Eden & Briana
Yep.
00:31:52
Briana
And this just shows how screwed our system is. so That's fucked.
00:31:56
Eden & Briana
Mm-hmm.
00:31:59
Briana
Excuse my language.
00:31:59
Eden & Briana
Yep. Sorry, Brad. So I definitely had to ask myself, how on God's green earth did these children get placed in this man's care?
00:32:10
Eden & Briana
So we'll get into it. Apparently in Wisconsin, if a person is charged with child abuse, but are convicted of a lesser crime, caseworkers are unable to consider the abuse charge. However, they could have considered all of his other convictions, most of which would have showcased his violent tendencies.
00:32:37
Eden & Briana
And as a side note here, there is no documentation stating that he ever participated in any form of therapy for his anger issues. so Now, after a child is placed in a foster home, a case worker will do monthly visits for several months until legal legal guardianship is granted. After that, the department no longer has any involvement in the case.
00:33:07
Eden & Briana
So,
00:33:07
Briana
There's something wrong there.
00:33:10
Eden & Briana
Yes, ma'am.
00:33:10
Briana
That's so stupid. I'm sorry.
00:33:14
Eden & Briana
So let me get...
00:33:14
Briana
You can't look at the child abuse charge if there's a lesser crime on his record.
00:33:24
Briana
Explain to me how that makes sense.
00:33:24
Eden & Briana
that one It doesn't. Which takes me to my next segment.
Legislative Changes: Ethan's Law
00:33:36
Eden & Briana
In 2021,
00:33:38
Eden & Briana
The state of Wisconsin signed Ethan's law. This law prohibits a child from being placed in the care of any person who has been convicted of or pled no contest to any offense against a child.
00:33:58
Briana
I'm sorry, Wisconsin.
00:33:59
Eden & Briana
Little too late. I mean,
00:34:01
Briana
It takes a seven year old's death in order to get that law changed.
00:34:13
Eden & Briana
Apparently so.
00:34:15
Briana
Wisconsin, are you okay?
00:34:20
Eden & Briana
Exactly.
00:34:23
Briana
Make it make sense.
00:34:25
Eden & Briana
It made zero sense to me whatsoever. I struggled with this case just because there should have been red flags all over placing these children with him.
00:34:31
Briana
Ugh, that pisses me off.
00:34:41
Eden & Briana
but
00:34:44
Eden & Briana
He had, so being a kinship care placement, the federal guidelines would rather you choose a relative, but caseworkers aren't held to that.
00:35:04
Eden & Briana
So I don't
00:35:04
Briana
I mean, I understand wanting to keep them in the family, but if it is not safe, they have no place in the family.
00:35:12
Eden & Briana
Exactly. This guy had a criminal history, a mild freaking long. Hello?
00:35:20
Briana
Exactly. Like, open your eyes!
00:35:22
Eden & Briana
And now that was public record. Anybody could have, it's public record. How in the hell?
00:35:31
Briana
If I was a case worker, I would be, I'd probably get fired.
00:35:35
Eden & Briana
Mm-hmm.
00:35:37
Briana
Because I would be looking at public information.
00:35:43
Briana
I would be looking at backgrounds. I don't care what the law states. If a law
00:35:51
Eden & Briana
Unfortunately, unfortunately, and I'm going to say this because I think this goes for every fricking state in the United States. There is a shortage of foster care homes.
00:36:04
Eden & Briana
There is a shortage of people who are willing to open their home to children in need.
00:36:04
Briana
Yeah.
00:36:11
Briana
So explain that to me. The adoption process, it takes like up to five years to get through an adoption.
00:36:16
Eden & Briana
Why is it so fricking hard?
00:36:20
Eden & Briana
an act of God. Mm-hmm. Yep.
00:36:28
Briana
Um,
00:36:32
Eden & Briana
And it costs a lot of money from what i I've never done it, but i've I've, I guess I've read in places and it it costs a lot of money to adopt a child. If we have this many children in need, why is the process so difficult?
00:36:48
Eden & Briana
There's so many men and women that would provide wonderful families that can't have children of their own that would give anything to open their home and adopt a child.
00:36:59
Eden & Briana
I understand not wanting to be a foster parent because in the amount of time that you have them, you probably develop big feelings and and the chance that they're going to get taken away after you're attached to them.
00:36:59
Briana
I'm sorry. Right.
00:37:12
Eden & Briana
And that's got to suck. That's got to suck seriously.
00:37:16
Briana
But I mean, think about it. If you have a roof over your head, if you have food in your cabinets, running water, and you have a job,
00:37:21
Eden & Briana
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
00:37:28
Briana
And your background check is clean.
00:37:32
Eden & Briana
Why is it so hard?
00:37:33
Briana
Here you go.
00:37:35
Eden & Briana
Yup.
00:37:35
Briana
in Enjoy your new baby.
00:37:38
Eden & Briana
Yup. I agree. I agree.
00:37:43
Briana
Especially since there's such a shortage.
00:37:43
Eden & Briana
You shouldn't have to jump through hoops to adopt a child that nobody wants. or that was abused or that needs a home. It shouldn't be that difficult. I know, but I think the goal of foster care is reuniting.
00:38:04
Briana
Foster.
00:38:04
Eden & Briana
Everybody's big on reuniting, reunite, reunite, reunite.
00:38:05
Briana
Yes.
00:38:07
Briana
Yes.
00:38:08
Eden & Briana
Sometimes, well, like just listen to the podcast, Suffer the Little Children. Reuniting is not always the best option.
00:38:21
Briana
No, because if you're, let's say you get one strike, I lose my kids for, let's say drugs, whatever.
00:38:25
Eden & Briana
Mm hmm.
00:38:32
Briana
I go to rehab. I do get reunited with my children.
00:38:34
Eden & Briana
a
00:38:38
Briana
And then I screw up again. I'm done. I don't get chance after chance after chance. I'm completely done.
00:38:45
Eden & Briana
Yeah.
00:38:47
Briana
You had your chance, these kids are going to somebody who deserves them.
00:38:51
Eden & Briana
Exactly.
00:38:53
Briana
I will go to my grave on that.
00:38:56
Eden & Briana
Yep.
00:39:00
Eden & Briana
So that is my case.
00:39:03
Briana
Way to piss me off straight away in the morning.
00:39:05
Eden & Briana
I'm so sorry. Maybe we should have done this after we had our day together. Now I wanted to get it up and out there.
00:39:13
Briana
Me too.
00:39:16
Eden & Briana
And I can't wait to follow. I hope I can get a live stream of that freaking trial. It's, it's slotted to last. It's slotted for eight days.
00:39:28
Eden & Briana
So I'm very curious.
00:39:32
Eden & Briana
He actually tried to get it postponed again and the judge freaking denied it.
00:39:37
Briana
Good.
00:39:37
Eden & Briana
It's been postponed long enough.
00:39:42
Briana
Yeah, I'm interested to see where this goes.
00:39:45
Eden & Briana
What has been postponed six years already?
00:39:48
Briana
Yep.
00:39:48
Eden & Briana
Because you got charged in 2019.
00:39:50
Briana
Yep.
00:39:53
Eden & Briana
Yeah. Yeah. No more. No, it's time.
00:39:58
Briana
Stupid.
00:39:58
Eden & Briana
I really, really would like to listen.
00:40:04
Eden & Briana
So bad.
00:40:04
Briana
Yeah. So that leads us to our ending. um
00:40:13
Briana
Get help if you need help. It's out there. um Just use your little smart device and sum up.
00:40:22
Eden & Briana
Mm-hmm.
00:40:25
Briana
First step is always the hardest. If you see something, make sure you say something.
00:40:30
Eden & Briana
Yeah.
00:40:30
Briana
Take care of yourself and others out there. We love you so much.
00:40:34
Eden & Briana
Mm-hmm.
00:40:36
Briana
And if you could leave us a rate and review, that'd be awesome. um
00:40:44
Eden & Briana
Contact us at...
00:40:47
Briana
Minors, yep, or Facebook messages.
00:40:47
Eden & Briana
minus being him, gmail dot.com.
00:40:54
Briana
We'd love to hear your thoughts on Wisconsin.
00:40:58
Eden & Briana
Yeah, some of our Wisconsin people shoot us an email and let us know. Well, I don't even know what the law isn't here.
00:41:09
Briana
I don't know either.
00:41:11
Eden & Briana
That'd be, it I don't, I'm trying to think if I know any social workers. I'll think about that one.
00:41:16
Briana
Yeah.
00:41:17
Eden & Briana
It'd be interesting to, to see what our laws are here.
00:41:24
Eden & Briana
So, um, Give us a follow if you find our Facebook page. We'd like to thank each and every one of you for sticking with us as we work out all the ups and downs of the podcasting world. Until next time, please refrain from being pond scum. Life is way too fricking short. Keep your happy asses and your kids' happy asses safe out there. Bye.
00:41:49
Briana
Bye.