John And Sonja Kluth, Oklahoma Couple, Accused Of Treating Children Like Dogs

An Oklahoma couple faces shocking accusations as to their treatment of three adopted children. John and Sonja Kluth, charged with three counts of child abuse and three counts of child neglect, allegedly forced the youngsters to eat pet food and locked them in cages. They also frequently beat them until they lost consciousness.

CNN spoke to Canadian County Sheriff Randall Edwards, who said it was the worst abuse case he had ever seen. "They have been raised worse than dogs," he said.

News Oklahoma reports that the pair was receiving $4,500 a month from the state of Wisconsin, where they originally adopted the children after providing foster care, before their arrest.

According to Oklahoma City's KOCO.com, neighbors are stunned:

"When we moved into the neighborhood, they brought us pie and brought us vegetables out of the garden," said Tracy Ellis.

Ellis said she lived two doors down from the Kluths former residence.

Ellis said the Kluths were a nice couple.

"She was a stay-at-home mom who educated the kids at home. The kids weren't really outside a whole lot. They were little," Ellis said.

Mirror News reports that Sonja, 57, abused the children, two boys ages 15 and 11, and a girl, 9, most forcefully while her husband stood by and did nothing.

The couple is scheduled to appear in court March 7.

Comments

[legalKat]

04:17 PM on 02/27/2011

I would urge everyone with an ounce of caring for the victims of these animals to let the judge know that his actions are not acceptable

You can send your complaints and concerns to:
Special Judge Jack McCurdy II
301 N Choctaw Ave
El Reno, OK 73036
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

Although its most likely too late, as the local Sheriff has noticed that the Kluth home is apparently abandoned. Their vehicles and the Uhaul that was on the property are gone.

[jdmccallum]

11:17 AM on 02/27/2011

"The complaint alleges the Kluths confined the 15-year-old boy to a plastic dog carrier for two months and deprived him of food." From CNN.As you can see from this quote this child was in no condition to report anything to the Authorities or do yuo think that was all that was going on. In the CNN report it is claimed that their own children were also abused so we have a pattern here that the Wisconson (where these children come from)welfare people need to answer to as well as the Oklahomma welfare people.

[AnarChrist]

07:56 AM on 02/27/2011

Home schooling is a threat to our nation's future. We have parents pouring who knows what sort of junk into childrens' minds, faking test scores (no way to even verify that the SATs were even in the child's own handwriting, no less), and out the other end comes a social retard who thinks the Earth is flat and women who wear pants are witches.

We will reap the whirlwind for allowing these cretins into society. The teabagger movement is a prime example of a generation raised to be controlled idiots.

[laaambchop]

11:34 AM on 02/27/2011

That just isn't true. These people in no way represent home-schoolers. Many go to college and do very well.

Please don't let these monsters skew you view of the home schooling community. Yes, there is a large contingent of religious ones. But there are also the Unschoolers---probably the most liberal people you will ever meet. And then there are those who are in-between. Most are much more social than their public school counterparts because you have to be very pro-active in this area.

[ohleslie]

06:10 PM on 02/26/2011

For the actual story go here: http://www.newson6.com/Global/story.asp?S=14137757
The older boy did run away, as described here. Pictures of the accused are all over the Internet. Better than the illustration chosen by the Huffington Post, showing a generic and tidy dog feeding nook.

[lainey]

07:21 PM on 02/26/2011

Thanks for the link. As a foster parent, this is just evidence that it is not just the CWS, but the judges as well. Who in the world would give them $9,000.00 bond? The whole system is absolutely a mess. If we opened the courts to these cases, maybe the parents, foster parents, social workers, supervisors, lawyers and judges would all be held accountable. Open the courts, take away the money, do home visits and stop treating children like property. This is the only way to fix this sick system that has been broken for years.

[Mary Hartery]

05:59 PM on 02/27/2011

I agree with you on all those things, but there is one problem--none of it can be accomplished without money. My mom saw firsthand what the system looks like when there are thousands of children currently in need of adoption in every state, nor enough social workers to take on additional cases.

One of the ways things could be partially fixed is to have potential foster families accept older children--too many out in the world of fostering want young children, and feel older children are too much trouble. That might be true to some extent, but I think all fosters should be filly investigated regardless of the ages of the children, and parenting courses should be required every six months or a year in order to keep the well-being of the children uppermost in the end. But again, the amount of children which are actually accounted for is only a small number of the true cost paid by kids.

[jenjen1031]

03:14 PM on 02/26/2011

Sorry Mark, you obviously don't know anything about the cycle of abuse...not to mention your flawed thinking by blaming the victim. the kid is not to blame on ANY level.

[Kristopher Ballard]

03:36 PM on 02/26/2011

I was appaled when I read his post...it's another case of blame the victim, anything bad that happens to you is your own fault. it's the flip-side of the belief that the super priveledged in our society got that way because of their own hard work, versus inheritance and education and the luck of the genetic draw. This is the most insidious of American beliefs, that for better or for worse, the things that happen to you are always of your own making, and that we are not affected by the actions of others. However, none of us live in a bubble, free of the influences and actions of others.

[Mark Santeramo]

02:49 PM on 02/26/2011

Kind of pathetic how a 15 year old boy apparently did not stand up for himself or tell the authorities about what was happening. I mean, at that age, that's a sophomore in high school; the kid, regardless of his at home situation should have had the brass to either fight back or tell the proper authorities about hwat was going on in the home to himself and his two other sisters. While the parents should absolutely be condemned and possibly jailed, I question the oldest child as well for not doing more to resolve the situation.

[phoebequeen]

03:10 PM on 02/26/2011

Are you seriously blaming the victim here ? We are not yet aware of all of the details of this story. Not to mention, that abusive behavior thrives on intimatating the weak. That's like when they used to ask rape victims why they didn't yell out.

[Kristopher Ballard]

03:29 PM on 02/26/2011

You are disgusting.

[rfletch7]

02:46 PM on 02/26/2011

People.... quit trying to use tragedies to push you political agenda. It's sickening.

[no monky]

02:35 PM on 02/26/2011

OKLAHOMA ! .... No surprise there
...
They beleive in Gawd

[gingersaff]

02:11 PM on 02/26/2011

This is the future for the unwanted crop of kids that women who cannot get access to family planning information and services will have. The luckiest ones live out their lives in institutions; those that are in the foster system have to be extremely fortunate to avoid scenarios like this where the fostering parents are in it for the money. And amazingly, even though it seems to get more and more difficult to adopt in this country, adoptive parents can be tormentors as well. We like to think that there are all kinds of perfect, healthy male babies available for adoption by upwardly-mobile christian heterosexual couples, but those couples now go overseas to buy their children from suppliers who don't ask too many questions while countless children languish here in the US because we are horrified lest a gay couple be able to legally adopt them. Foster systems are run by cash-strapped states that don't have enough caseworkers to monitor what goes on. I don't see that situation improving any time soon, especially in those states that want to balance their budgets on the backs of public sector employees. The solution? Let women decide whether or not to have a child, let the state track kids in their system, and let people who want to be parents adopt. Obviously what we're doing now isn't working. Will it cost? Ask yourself how much it's worth to prevent kids from being being beaten and held in a cage.

[lainey]

06:00 PM on 02/26/2011

Nice analysis, although I would not suggest that children who go overseas are "buying" children. Adoptive parents want a child and they are forced to pay. We are considering overseas adoption because we have been foster parents in this country and see how awful it is. We will only adopt a child who is truly orphaned. But if we could see past children as being property, than we could see that you hopefully adopt to build a family and nurture his/her soul. . The problem with our current foster care system is that good foster parents are seen as "problematic" when we ask for home visits, medical cards and advocate for the children. The system will gladly keep foster parents who don't ask questions and just take the check. Social workers would know what is happening to children if they came to our homes...they don't. If we took the money out of foster care, I am sure we would find adults who did it for the sake of humanity. That is the solution on every level.

[Littlewords]

02:01 PM on 02/26/2011

Assuming all alleged is validated, let the parents now spend the rest of their remaining pathetic lives in cages.

[GoCards1978]

01:57 PM on 02/26/2011

These 2 vile examples of human beings deserve to be treated in kind, period.

[noudidnt]

01:52 PM on 02/26/2011

Where's the picture of the Kluths?

[matthewnsea]

01:51 PM on 02/26/2011

hmmm, and the right wing whack jobs in Oklahoma and the rest of the U.S. say my partner and I shouldn't be parents

[lainey]

06:04 PM on 02/26/2011

I am sorry that you can't become parents. I truly am. The matter of prejudice runs deep on every level in this country. As a heterosexual couple, here in the USA, we could not adopt a child of another race. As one social worker said to a child who wanted to be adopted by the family with whom they lived and was of another race, "you should be with your own kind." Social workers and their immunity, along with their own personal bias, have been given way too much power. I wish you well and may you be blessed with a child. Keep moving on...you will get there. Peace.

[noudidnt]

01:49 PM on 02/26/2011

Who allowed these animals to adopt?

[NerdyStudent]

01:44 PM on 02/26/2011

As I said below, I think we need to stop focusing on hurting/killing the perpetrators, and spend more effort on treating and rehabilitating the poor victims of this crime.

We live in a society predicated on violence and retribution, revenge...rarely do we think beyond the suspect to the suffering of the victims. Killing the suspects in the most awful way doesn't do a licking for society, nor does it benefit the children in any meaningful way.

Lock the two knuckle heads up, and forget about them. Focus on the children and restoring them to a point where they can live their lives with some substantial ounce of happiness.

[lainey]

06:06 PM on 02/26/2011

Great insight. Let's hope we can move towards prevention also, instead of reaction. These children were abuse by their parents, the system and then the adoptive parents. Had the system done their job, this could have been avoided.