Milwaukee child neglect case; Katie Koch gets 10 years in prison
Katie Koch in court for sentencing
MILWAUKEE - A Milwaukee woman convicted of neglecting two children – who were found naked and bloody – was sentenced on Thursday to 10 years in prison and another 10 years of extended supervision.
Katie Koch, 35, pleaded guilty in November 2023 to three felonies after pleading not guilty that July. As part of a plea deal with prosecutors, an additional felony and two misdemeanors were dismissed.
"I love my boys," Koch said during her sentencing hearing. "Now being on my meds, looking back, I am absolutely appalled."
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"This is a case where there’s no winners," said Defense Attorney Brett Copeland. "People don’t live like that, unless there’s something really, really egregious going on with them."
Joel Manke, 38, was also charged in the case with two counts of chronic neglect of a child and two counts of false imprisonment. Manke pleaded not guilty to charges in July 2023.
Katie Koch; Joel Manke
Case details
Police responded to the neighborhood near 71st and Stevenson on July 13. There, a criminal complaint states officers learned from neighbors that two kids were walking around naked with blood on them.
Prosecutors said police made contact with Koch, who was on the phone with a man, asking if he was "almost home, so you can help explain what's going on." Court filings said the home was uninhabitable, with police describing a "terrible hoarding situation."
"This was a prison of garbage and filth that these poor children were made to reside in," Judge Rebecca Kiefer said during Koch's sentencing.
A 7-year-old child was found with red marks on his body. The complaint said Koch told police both children, ages 7 and 9, had broken a window and ran away – but police didn't find lacerations indicative of cuts from broken glass. A neighbor told investigators, however, that he saw the kids break the window and run from the home.
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While police were at the house, Koch denied abusing the kids, grabbing clothing for them and telling officers: "I'm so sorry. I'm so afraid."
Police found trash, garbage and the smell of urine and feces throughout the home. The complaint said there was feces smeared on the walls in the children's room and a latch on the outside of their door. Koch said it was not "just feces" but "clay, paint and chocolate."
The complaint said Manke arrived shortly thereafter. Prosecutors said he admitted to putting boards on the windows in the kids' room "to keep the children from bothering the nosey neighbor" and a latch on their door "to lock the kids in the room overnight to keep them from wandering due to their autism." He said the children did not attend school or see a doctor during the time he had known them.
According to prosecutors, Koch said she "home schools" the children, describing "Hooked on Phonics workbooks" and "educational apps" on their tablets but admitting she didn't have a proper curriculum for them. She said the 7-year-old cannot write but can trace letters and read "small words." She said the 9-year-old was learning how to put sentences together.
Arrest near 71st and Stevenson (July 2023)
Manke added that he "knew how the children were living was not right, but he had to pick his battles with Koch to avoid arguments," the complaint states.
According to prosecutors, one neighbor told police he had lived in his home for over 30 years and had never seen a child at the home where Koch and Manke lived.
"This was not a one-time incident, this went on for years," said Assistant District Attorney Mallory Davis during Koch's sentencing.
Koch admitted the home was not habitable and the children "deserved better," the complaint said. Prosecutors added that she wrote a three-page apology letter to the children.