The WILL Children - 14 yo and Newborn - Hudson (MN border) WI

HUDSON — A western Wisconsin woman who was convicted of abusing her
1-year-old daughter more than a decade ago now is charged with depriving
the same girl of food and clothing — a situation deputies discovered
when they began investigating the July death of the woman's infant
daughter.Elise L. Will, 36, and her
husband, Jeremee C. Will, 37, each were charged Thursday with being
party to the crimes of felony child abandonment and misdemeanor child
neglect.
Prosecutors
say the Wills locked the 14-year-old girl out of the house, forced her
to sleep outside in a tent and starved her for four days.
Siv Yurichuk, the attorney representing both Wills, said she had no comment.In
addition to investigating the alleged neglect of the teenager, police
are awaiting medical records on the death of the couple's 6-week-old
daughter on July 23. Initial autopsy reports said there was no trauma to
the infant, but the St. Croix County sheriff's department considers the
case under investigation.
It
was because of the infant's death that police became aware of the
14-year-old. The girl's grandmother had called authorities to report the
baby's death. When investigators went to the couple's rural Hammond
home, they noticed the teen lying in a fetal position on the cement
basement floor, the criminal complaint said.
The
girl told investigators her parents made her sleep on the floor without
a blanket or pillow because she had lost those privileges. She said her
grandparents had given her a few clothes, but she otherwise had to
"earn back" the right to wear other clothes, the complaint said.
The
teen also said her parents kicked her out of the house in early July
and forced her to sleep in a small tent. She said she didn't eat during
those four days, and she had to do chores to earn the right to eat
meals.
She said
her parents got angry with her in January and forced her to sit in a
dark room for a month except to go to school or the bathroom. The girl
said she also was forced to eat her meals in the dark, and often was
locked out of the house any time her parents were out.
There
also is a younger boy at the residence, the girl told police, but he
never lost any privileges because "he listens pretty well."
The
Wills told investigators it was the girl's choice to stay in the tent
and to refuse food because she wouldn't comply with family rules. Elise
Will said the girl never was locked out of the house for more than a few
hours at a time.
Jeremee
Will said he was aware that the girl slept on the cement floor, and
that she spent up to four nights in the tent, the complaint said. He
acknowledged requiring the girl to do a chore to earn a meal, telling
police it was a disciplinary action.
Elise
Will was convicted in 1998 of abusing the same daughter. She pleaded no
contest to a felony charge of child abuse-intentionally causing harm
and was sentenced to five years on probation.
The latest felony child-abandonment charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison.
http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20110903/GPG0101/109030615/Mom-convicted-abusing-1-year-old-daughter-again-charged-abuse-girl-now-14