Custodial dad, gal pal arrested for allegedly starving, isolating, abusing 5-year-old daughter (Suring, Wisconsin)

Once again, you have to read carefully. This is the father's child. The girl friend is not the mother. The little girl is specifically identified in the first paragraph as "his" daughter. Not "their" daughter.

What is not anwered here: How did these sick pups get custody of this little girl? Who gave it to them? What happened to the girl's mother? Is she dead or "missing"? That should be a red flag right there. Or was she outmanoevered by some slick lawyers in cahoots with the courts?

Dad is identified as SHAWN L. PAHOLKE.

http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20130924/GPG0101/309240330/Criminal-complaint-Oconto-Co-couple-s-abuse-left-5-year-old-girl-severely-malnourished

Criminal complaint: Oconto Co. couple's abuse left 5-year-old girl severely malnourished

  Sep. 24, 2013

Written by Kent Tempus
Gannett Wisconsin Media

A Suring man and his then-live-in girlfriend who allegedly starved, isolated and threatened to cut off the hands of his 5-year-old daughter are facing a total of 23 felony charges.

Another daughter, who is 7, suffered third degree burns after being tied up and left outside for hours in the hot sun, according to criminal complaints filed against Shawn L. Paholke, 33, and Jennifer Fendryk, 31.

Paholke and Fendryk, who were arrested after interviews on Sept. 13, are being held at the Oconto County Jail on $250,000 bond following an initial appearance Monday.

The alleged abuse came to light May 23, when the Oconto County Department of Health and Human Services was notified about the welfare of the 5-year-old. Following an exam on May 14, a physician told Paholke he had “extreme concern” over her condition and recommended she be taken to a hospital immediately. She was not.

The girl weighed only 24 pounds, nearly half the minimum of 40 pounds for a 5-year-old, the complaint said.

Authorities took the girl to St. Vincent Hospital, where a physician referred her for immediate transfer to Children’s Hospital in Milwaukee for treatment for severe malnutrition. She arrived there on May 24 and was placed in the pediatric Intensive Care Unit.

In an interview on Sept. 11, the girl said she “is locked in her bedroom all the time and only gets out” when Paholke “makes her scrub the floors and makes her exercise by doing jumping jacks and other things. He then locks her back in her room.”

The girl also said she is not allowed to have any toys or play with anyone. The girl also she cut her chin when Paholke dragged her on the floor, which medical records indicated occurred in September 2012. Another time, she said, both Paholke and Fendryk used a knife and were going to cut off her hands.

The complaint doesn’t note if there were specific injuries to the girl’s arm.

In July 2012, the older daughter said Paholke used black zip ties to tie her hands to a pole next to the family’s pool on a very hot day. She also said that Paholke, Fendryk and Fendryk’s son swam while she was tied up.

The girl said she didn’t have anything to drink all day and passed out, and woke up in a cold shower with a burn on her arm. Her father took her to St. Vincent on July 9 and was treated for a third degree burn to her elbow, a second degree burn to her upper arm and a right shoulder strain.

Paholke and Fendryk face the same seven charges relating to the younger daughter: first degree reckless injury, three counts of child neglect resulting in great bodily harm, first degree recklessly endangering safety, false imprisonment and mental harm to a child.

They face different charges in connection to the July 2012 incident involving the older child. Paholke was charged with second degree reckless injury, false imprisonment, mental harm to child, physical abuse of a child and child neglect resulting in great bodily harm.

Fendryk was charged with child neglect causing great bodily harm, false imprisonment, failure to act to prevent bodily harm to a child and mental harm to a child.

The charges carry maximum prison sentences of three years, six months to 25 years in prison. They are scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Oct. 2.