Wisconsin Couple Arrested After 2 Boys, Caveman-Like, Bloody and Naked, Escape Their Torturous Home!

A Milwaukee mother and her boyfriend have been arrested after allegedly abusing her two young sons.

According to CBS58, a neighbor first saw the children looking through a shattered window last Thursday, July 13, then climb onto the air conditioning unit. They then jumped into the yard and walked down the street naked.

A child witness said the children -- two boys ages 7 and 9 -- "were acting like cavemen, like they had never seen the sun before."

Another neighbor described the boys appearance saying: "They were just walking different. Their hair looked like it had never been brushed, never been cut. They didn't know the outside existed."

That neighbor instructed her husband to call 9-1-1. When police arrived and entered the home, they were stunned.

Milwaukee County Assistant District Attorney Mallory Davis said the children were essentially confined to their room for much of their lives. The windows were boarded up and door was locked from the outside. Responding officers described it as "a terrible hoarding situation" in which they could not see the floor.

A responding officer said the kitchen and living room were piled with garbage, and the smell of feces and urine filled the home. Trash was also piled outside the children's room, which locked from the outside; inside, the walls were smeared with feces.

The adults in the home, Katie Koch, 34, the mother of the children and Joel Manke, 38, her boyfriend, were taken into custody in connection with the children's condition.

Manke told authorities that he has lived in the home since 2007 but that Koch just moved in about 4 or 5 years ago. Neighbors in the area say that they never saw the couple and didn't know who lived in the residence.

In an interview with investigators, Manke said he knew that how the children were living was not right, but that he had to "pick his battles" with Koch to avoid arguments. Manke also said that Koch never took the children to any doctor appointments nor had they ever been to school since living with him. Koch told investigators that she homeschooled her children but could not provide proof. She also "admitted that the home is not habitable," and said "her boys deserve better".

Investigators described the children as "horribly damaged from their mother's actions", uneducated and not toilet trained. They also stated that, at this moment, the children are "unable to function in society".

Koch is facing four felony counts and two misdemeanors connected to child neglect and false imprisonment. Manke is facing four felony counts.

In their court appearance, the court commissioner set a $30,000 cash bail for Koch. A public defender said Koch has no money to post bail. Manke's cash bail was set at $6,500. Their preliminary hearings are set for July 26. If convicted on all felony counts, Koch and Manke each face fines totaling $120,000 and 43.5 years in prison. Koch faces an additional $20,000 in fines and 18 months in prison for the two misdemeanor counts.