Naked and bloody children escape Milwaukee 'house of horrors'

Brothers aged 7 and 9 flee Milwaukee house of horrors covered in blood and feces after ‘mom and her boyfriend abused them’

• Neighbors called 911 after seeing the boys escape the house on July 13
• The children were described as naked and bloody with hair matted by feces 
• Mother, Katie Koch, 35, and her boyfriend Joel Manke, 38, were in court Monday

A Milwaukee mother has been in court after her two young sons were spotted escaping a ‘house of horrors’ where she and her boyfriend allegedly imprisoned them for years. 

Neighbors described seeing the boys, aged seven and nine, naked and covered in blood as they moved like ‘cavemen who had never seen the sun’ after they broke free through a shattered window last week. 

Their mother, Katie Koch, 34, is facing four felony counts and two misdemeanors connected to child neglect and false imprisonment, while her boyfriend, Joel Manke, 38, is charged with four felony counts, according to WDJT. 

Koch was filmed looking upset in a subsequent court hearing as a prosecutor outlined the abuse and neglect she’s accused of inflicting on her children.  

Police who responded to a 911 call from nearby residents in the lakeside east Wisconsin city said the house was so crammed with belongings that the floor was not visible, describing it as a ‘terrible hoarding situation’. 

Neighbors first spotted her children – whose hair was matted by feces – peering through a shattered window on July 13. 

The mother of the boys who escaped from a ‘house of horrors’ last week – Katie Koch, 34 – is facing four felony counts and two misdemeanors connected to child neglect and false imprisonment, while her boyfriend, Joel Manke, 38, is charged with four felony counts

On Monday, Koch appeared at Milwaukee County intake court, where the assistant district attorney described the living conditions as ‘like something out of a horror movie’

Pictured: ‘House of horrors’ where the boys, aged seven and nine, escaped naked and covered in blood, with hair matted by feces, after breaking free via a shattered window last week

https://youtube.com/watch?v=eYQAkHI1kgs%3Frel%3D0%26showinfo%3D1%26hl%3Den-US

They said the boys climbed through the window onto an air conditioning unit before jumping into the yard and walking down the street stark naked.

One neighbor said the boys ‘were acting like cavemen, like they had never seen the sun before’, WJDT reported. 

Another resident on the street, Christine Eder, said the children looked like ‘they had never been outside’.

‘They were just walking different,’ Eder said. ‘Their hair looked like it had never been brushed, never been cut. They didn’t know the outside existed.’ 

Eder said the detached house is normally quiet, and she had not seen anyone go in and out before, let alone heard children. 

She was taken aback by the scene unfolding outside the normally unremarkable home and she kept watch over the boys while her husband called 911. 

On Monday, Koch appeared at Milwaukee County intake court, where the assistant district attorney described the living conditions as ‘like something out of a horror movie’, WJDT said. 

Milwaukee County Assistant District Attorney Mallory Davis said the boys had been imprisoned in their rooms, where the windows were boarded up and the doors locked from the outside. 

Officers who were called to the home described it as a ‘terrible hoarding situation’ where the floor was not even visible due to the accumulation of belongings.  

The conditions were so bad that the children’s heads had to be shaved because their hair was matted with feces.  

‘These children have been horribly damaged from their mother’s actions,’ Davis said. 

‘They are completely uneducated. They are not potty trained, even at their ages. 

‘They are, essentially at this point, unable to function in society.’

Manke, who sports long hair and a thick ginger beard, told investigators he has lived in the house since 2007, while Koch said she moved in with her children around four years ago. 

During a police interview, Manke said he knew the living conditions were not good for the children, but he had to ‘pick his battles’ with Koch to avoid arguments. 

He added that the children had never seen a doctor or been to school over the four years they had lived under his roof, as Koch home-schooled them.  

Koch, whose hair was badly matted in her police mugshots, also ‘admitted that the home is not habitable,’ and said ‘her boys deserve better’, according to WDJT. 

Koch has been set a $30,000 cash bail, which officials have said she is not able to pay. Manke’s cash bail was set at $6,500 and it is unclear if he has paid it. 

If convicted of all the charges, they each face prison terms of up to 43 years, and fines of up to $120,000. 

Koch could be sentenced to an additional $20,000 in fines and 18 months in prison for the two misdemeanor counts. 

Their preliminary hearings are set for July 26.   

Neighbor Christine Eder said the children looked like ‘they had never been outside’. ‘They were just walking different. Their hair looked like it had never been brushed,’ she said

‘These children have been horribly damaged from their mother’s actions,’ Milwaukee County Assistant District Attorney Mallory Davis said

Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson said he hopes those responsible for the ‘terrible’ treatment of the children ‘see justice’. 

‘I’m glad that those children were able to escape, that’s a terrible, unfortunate situation,’ he said. 

‘No kid should have to endure that sort of experience, especially not with relatives of theirs, in any home, in any community in Milwaukee, or Wisconsin, or the United States.

‘I hope those people who were responsible, their parents, see some justice on this.’

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