{"id":216475,"date":"2026-04-02T20:02:07","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T20:02:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/216475\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T20:02:07","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T20:02:07","slug":"florida-fire-lieutenant-wife-accused-of-locking-adopted-child-in-room-for-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/216475\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida Fire lieutenant, wife accused of locking adopted child in room for years"},"content":{"rendered":"

CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. (CBS12) \u2014 A Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue Lieutenant and his wife are accused of locking their adopted 12-year-old daughter in her bedroom for years, subjecting her to neglect and unimaginable living conditions.<\/p>\n

Lt. Joel Kohnert,44, and his wife, Jennifer Kohnert, 45, appeared in court for their first appearance on Wednesday, where their bonds were both set at $100,000.<\/p>\n

According to the Coral Springs Police Department<\/a>, an investigation began when the victim revealed to her school on February 11 that she had been confined to her bedroom at night. <\/p>\n

The report states that she claimed this punishment was due to her wandering around the house and taking items from family members. She reported having no access to a bathroom, resulting in her urinating and defecating on the floor, which she was then forced to clean up.<\/p>\n

The probable cause affidavit detailed that for approximately two to three years, the girl was locked in her bedroom overnight and sometimes during the day. During these times, she said she was unable to use the bathroom, leading to further incidents of soiling herself. <\/p>\n

The child described inhumane living conditions to investigators, including bathing outside in her clothes, sleeping on an air mattress, and having minimal furnishings in her room. She was only allowed three outfits at a time, and any additional clothing or money she received was reportedly taken by Jennifer.<\/p>\n

See also: ‘All of a sudden, BOOM’: Bodycam release sheds light on Tiger Woods suspected DUI crash<\/a><\/p>\n

The report noted that the girl was forced to clean her own clothing using vinegar and bleach after soiling them. She was required to wash her clothes outside in a small bucket and then wear them again. Investigators say that clothing collected from the home showed stains that corroborated her account.<\/p>\n

The girl also said that she brushed her teeth in her room and was made to swallow the toothpaste, as she had limited access to a bathroom. <\/p>\n

In the week leading up to the police investigation, she claimed that Jennifer had pulled her hair, slapped her, and kicked her, causing her lip to bleed. The child reported being called derogatory names and being subjected to distressing comments about her biological parents.<\/p>\n

In contrast, the other six children in the Kohnert household allegedly said that they did not face the same punishments. They confirmed that they lived in a well-furnished environment with toys and personal items, unlike the victim’s conditions. <\/p>\n

Joel and Jennifer were approached by investigators regarding the allegations. <\/p>\n

Jennifer allegedly admitted to locking the girl in her room for years and acknowledged that the punishment methods were unusual. Despite having cared for the girl since she was two months old, Jennifer reportedly told investigators that the child would not thrive under her care and expressed a willingness to turn her over to the State of Florida.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. (CBS12) \u2014 A Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue Lieutenant and his wife are accused of locking…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":216476,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[249,251,250],"class_list":["post-216475","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-lauderdale","tag-fort-lauderdale","tag-fort-lauderdale-headlines","tag-fort-lauderdale-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216475","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=216475"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216475\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/216476"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=216475"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=216475"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=216475"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}