the_idle_threat
07-24-2007, 01:33 AM
Boy locked up during Packers games
Greenfield mother, boyfriend sentenced in child neglect case
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=636654
By DERRICK NUNNALLY
dnunnally@journalsentinel.com
Posted: July 23, 2007
Through last fall and into the winter, Scott Scherer and Melanie Hardrath fell into a familiar routine for each Packers game day: wake up, shower and head for Potawatomi Bingo Casino to hang out for six hours or more.
But Hardrath's 7-year-old son didn't have a place in that routine. So his mother and her live-in boyfriend forced one on him that even Hardrath's attorney called "bizarre": When the Greenfield couple went to watch the team play, the boy was deadbolted in his room with a loaf of bread, some peanut butter and jelly.
He also got a bucket to use as a toilet, which he had to empty and clean himself when the couple returned.
Investigators uncovered the situation in January. Hardrath, 30, and Scherer, 39, later pleaded guilty to a felony charge of false imprisonment and a misdemeanor charge of child neglect. Each was sentenced Monday to more than six months in the Milwaukee County House of Correction.
Circuit Judge Jeffrey Wagner called the treatment "abhorrent" and scolded the couple for leaving the boy, who is now 8 and living with other relatives, alone, when fire or illness could have left him stranded and badly in need of parental help.
"They're supposed to be available to (children) to nurture them," Wagner said, "not treating a child like that as an animal."
Wagner sentenced Hardrath to seven months and Scherer to nine months, followed by four months' probation each. He also ordered the couple not to be in each other's company when the boy is present.
Photos shown during sentencing* show the couple's Greenfield home packed with thousands of dollars' worth of Packers memorabilia, including autographed jerseys, helmets, posters and legions of figurines. A prosecutor said the pictures made clear how easily they could have afforded proper treatment for the boy.
"These are not people who could not afford a baby sitter," Assistant District Attorney Chris Liegel said. "These are not desperate people making bad decisions. These are selfish people making bad decisions."
Attorneys for the couple seemed at a loss to defend what happened, which Wagner said "shocks the conscience of the community."
Hardrath's attorney, Richard Johnson, said the discovery of the "bizarre" situation had forced the couple's parenting issues to be confronted, but he said he did not have a suggestion on how proper justice could be meted out
"What do you do?" Johnson said to Wagner. "Maybe this coming football season, lock them in a room with a bucket and make them watch Bears games."
Johnson said he suspected the root of the mania lay with Scherer, who according to the criminal complaint told investigators he had lived with Hardrath about five years and was addressed as Dad by her son.
Before the situation came to light, Scherer had worked as a counselor to troubled juveniles. But when Wagner pressed the issue, he failed to reconcile the lessons of that job to the treatment of his girlfriend's son.
Citing this as evidence that Scherer knew how wrong the boy's treatment was, Wagner sent Scherer directly to the House of Correction.
Scherer had worked as an independent contractor delivering the Journal Sentinel since May, but he lost that job when he didn't come to work Monday.
Hardrath is to begin serving her House of Correction sentence Friday.
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* If you're particularly nosy, you can see these evidence photos here:
http://blogs.jsonline.com/proofandhearsay/archive/2007/07/23/packers-souvenirs-yes-a-babysitter-no.aspx
Greenfield mother, boyfriend sentenced in child neglect case
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=636654
By DERRICK NUNNALLY
dnunnally@journalsentinel.com
Posted: July 23, 2007
Through last fall and into the winter, Scott Scherer and Melanie Hardrath fell into a familiar routine for each Packers game day: wake up, shower and head for Potawatomi Bingo Casino to hang out for six hours or more.
But Hardrath's 7-year-old son didn't have a place in that routine. So his mother and her live-in boyfriend forced one on him that even Hardrath's attorney called "bizarre": When the Greenfield couple went to watch the team play, the boy was deadbolted in his room with a loaf of bread, some peanut butter and jelly.
He also got a bucket to use as a toilet, which he had to empty and clean himself when the couple returned.
Investigators uncovered the situation in January. Hardrath, 30, and Scherer, 39, later pleaded guilty to a felony charge of false imprisonment and a misdemeanor charge of child neglect. Each was sentenced Monday to more than six months in the Milwaukee County House of Correction.
Circuit Judge Jeffrey Wagner called the treatment "abhorrent" and scolded the couple for leaving the boy, who is now 8 and living with other relatives, alone, when fire or illness could have left him stranded and badly in need of parental help.
"They're supposed to be available to (children) to nurture them," Wagner said, "not treating a child like that as an animal."
Wagner sentenced Hardrath to seven months and Scherer to nine months, followed by four months' probation each. He also ordered the couple not to be in each other's company when the boy is present.
Photos shown during sentencing* show the couple's Greenfield home packed with thousands of dollars' worth of Packers memorabilia, including autographed jerseys, helmets, posters and legions of figurines. A prosecutor said the pictures made clear how easily they could have afforded proper treatment for the boy.
"These are not people who could not afford a baby sitter," Assistant District Attorney Chris Liegel said. "These are not desperate people making bad decisions. These are selfish people making bad decisions."
Attorneys for the couple seemed at a loss to defend what happened, which Wagner said "shocks the conscience of the community."
Hardrath's attorney, Richard Johnson, said the discovery of the "bizarre" situation had forced the couple's parenting issues to be confronted, but he said he did not have a suggestion on how proper justice could be meted out
"What do you do?" Johnson said to Wagner. "Maybe this coming football season, lock them in a room with a bucket and make them watch Bears games."
Johnson said he suspected the root of the mania lay with Scherer, who according to the criminal complaint told investigators he had lived with Hardrath about five years and was addressed as Dad by her son.
Before the situation came to light, Scherer had worked as a counselor to troubled juveniles. But when Wagner pressed the issue, he failed to reconcile the lessons of that job to the treatment of his girlfriend's son.
Citing this as evidence that Scherer knew how wrong the boy's treatment was, Wagner sent Scherer directly to the House of Correction.
Scherer had worked as an independent contractor delivering the Journal Sentinel since May, but he lost that job when he didn't come to work Monday.
Hardrath is to begin serving her House of Correction sentence Friday.
************************************************** *****
* If you're particularly nosy, you can see these evidence photos here:
http://blogs.jsonline.com/proofandhearsay/archive/2007/07/23/packers-souvenirs-yes-a-babysitter-no.aspx