Broward Fire lieutenant, wife accused of abusing child in Coral Springs for years

A Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue lieutenant and his wife are accused of locking their 12-year-old adoptive daughter in a room overnight for years, forcing her to bathe outside and subjecting her to “inhumane" conditions in their Coral Springs home, police said.

The Coral Springs Police Department arrested 44-year-old Joel Kohnert and 45-year-old Jennifer Kohnert on one charge each of child abuse without great bodily harm, court records show.

The couple was booked in Broward’s mail jail on March 31, and they were being held on $100,000 bond as of April 1.

“They are devout Christians, they are devoutly religious. Their beliefs on various topics may not jibe with people in this courtroom, or maybe they do,” the couple’s attorney said during their first appearances, broadcast by WSVN.

The investigation began in February when the school resource officer at the girl’s Coral Springs school reported the abuse allegations to the Department of Children and Families, according to a probable cause affidavit.

The girl told investigators that for two to three years, she was locked in her bedroom from the outside at night and sometimes during the day. She said she was treated differently than the other six kids who lived in the home.

“This practice is particularly concerning given Joel’s professional background, where he would reasonably be expected to recognize the inherent safety risks associated with restricting a child’s ability to exit a room during an emergency,” officers noted in the affidavit.

The girl would sometimes be forced to go to the bathroom in her room because she didn’t have access to an actual bathroom, she told police. Then she had to use her own clothes to clean the mess, wash them and rewear them, according to investigators.

The girl also told police Jennifer Kohnert physically abused her a week before law enforcement became involved, officers wrote. She said she was routinely name called and was told “distressing” information about her biological parents to upset her, according to the affidavit.

Her parents punished her in unusual ways, she told investigators, forcing to write Bible verses and tread water, sometimes for as long as 45 minutes, police said. Investigators visited the Coral Springs home to assess the situation.

“I observed the bedrooms of the other children, which were clean, properly furnished, and contained toys and personal items,” a special victims unit officer wrote in the affidavit. “In contrast, (the 12-year-old’s) room lacked decoration, contained minimal furnishings and had a noticeable odor consistent with urine.”

When law enforcement took the girl out of the home, stains on her clothes corroborated her statement about having to use her items as cleaning rags, and she was found to be wearing underwear meant for a toddler, police said.

The couple appeared before a judge April 1, at which point their attorney spoke to the couple’s character and said the allegations were untrue.

“I don’t get into the religious stuff, I stay away from that, I just have to apply the law,” Judge Corey B. Friedman said. “You’ve allegedly got a 12-year-old child who is locked in a room for upwards of three years and is forced to urinate and defecate in the room and then clean it up with her clothes, that is not a religious issue, that is something else.”

Lt. Kohnert was hired by BSFR on Nov. 15, 2010, and is currently on administrative investigative leave without pay, the sheriff’s office said.