A Genoa City couple accused of abusing their 12-year-old son pleaded not guilty to a combined six felony and three misdemeanor offenses.
Carrie M. Donahue, 38, and Michael G. Donahue, 46, pleaded not guilty Dec. 12 to charges that stem from allegations that they locked Michael Donahue’s son in a room for 12 hours at a time, didn’t let him eat and made him eat his own feces.
Both are charged with causing mental harm to a child, false imprisonment, physical abuse of a child and child neglect. Carrie Donahue is also charged with disorderly conduct.
A status conference is scheduled in the case for Feb. 19.
According to the criminal complaint, Michael Donahue’s father reported to Child Protective Services that the Michael and Carrie Donahue would lock the boy in his bedroom for 12 hours at a time then yell at him for urinating in the room. Kenneth Donahue said his grandson would curl up into a fetal position because of all of the emotional abuse he suffered from Michael and Carrie Donahue.
The boy and family members reported the boy had problems with urination and defecation, needed to wear Pull-ups, kept his fingers in his mouth until his mouth bled, didn’t eat or shower, had urine-soaked socks and shoes, sat in a cold, dark room at a bar and stood for long periods of time, according to the criminal complaint.
The boy was admitted to Rogers Memorial Hospital in June 2013, and a doctor reported the boy did not need diapers while at the hospital but his behaviors resumed after he was discharged and sent home, according to the complaint.
The boy’s 14-year-old sister told a forensic interviewer Michael and Carrie Donahue would make the boy keep his hands in his mouth until his lips would bleed and his fingers would be “all wrinkly.”
A Child Protective Services worker reported that since the boy was removed from the Donahues’ home Dec. 16, he no longer needs diapers or psychotropic medications and has gained weight and height.
The girl also told the Tree House interviewer that her brother has a lock on his door that keeps him in.
On Dec. 17, 2013, the boy told the Tree House interviewer that the last time he had eaten was four days earlier. The night before, he said, he was required to stand next to the dinner table, and when everyone was eating in front of him, he got a plate, and Carrie Donahue dumped his plate in the sink and would not let him eat because he snuck food, according to the complaint.
A counselor at Lake Geneva Middle School, where the boy was enrolled from Sept. 13 to Nov. 27, 2013, also reported concerns to the county Department of Health and Human Services.
The counselor said the boy came to school disheveled, wearing dirty clothes and sometimes urine-soaked clothes and asking for food in the morning because he was hungry, according to the complaint.
The boy told social workers that on one occasion in October, he pooped in his pants, and Carrie Donahue made him eat it, according to the complaint.
The boy’s sister said when Michael Donahue came home, he hit the boy in the head for eating poop, according to the complaint.
