ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, F.L. — A Florida couple has been sentenced to prison for the severe abuse and neglect of their three adoptive children, authorities announced.
Jennifer Wolfthal, 45, a children’s book author, and her husband, Joseph Wolfthal, 43, pleaded guilty on Monday to aggravated child abuse and child neglect causing great bodily harm. Jennifer Wolfthal was sentenced to 12 years in prison, while Joseph Wolfthal received a 10-year sentence under a plea agreement.
The abuse was exposed on January 1, 2021, when Joseph Wolfthal brought one of the children to a hospital in Altamonte Springs. Medical staff discovered the child was critically ill with a staph infection, sepsis, kidney and liver failure, severe leg wounds, and pneumonia in both lungs, according to court documents.
Doctors also noted the child had two black eyes, a chipped tooth, and weighed just 40 pounds—well below a healthy weight for her age.
Further investigation revealed that the children were subjected to physical beatings with a device referred to as a “whacker” and were deprived of proper nutrition, surviving only on a mixture of cereal and vegetable purée.