Brothers aged 7 and 9 flee Milwaukee house of horrors covered in blood and feces after ‘mom and her boyfriend abused them’

A Milwaukee mom is facing trial after her two young sons were spotted escaping a “house of horrors” where she and her boyfriend reportedly kept them locked for years.

Neighbors described seeing the boys, aged seven and nine, naked and covered in blood as they moved about like “cavemen who had never seen the sun” after escaping through a shattered window last week.

Their mother, Katie Koch, 34, faces four felony counts and two misdemeanor charges related to child neglect and wrongful imprisonment, while her boyfriend, Joel Manke, 38, faces four counts of felony count. WDJT.

Koch was filmed looking upset during a subsequent court hearing as a prosecutor outlined the abuse and neglect she is accused of inflicting on her children.

Police, responding to an 911 call from residents in the lakeside town in eastern Wisconsin, said the house was so crammed with belongings that the floor was not visible, describing it as a “terrible hoarding situation.”

On July 13, neighbors first saw her children – whose hair was matted with feces – peering through a shattered window.

They said the boys climbed onto an air conditioner through the window before jumping out into the yard and walking down the street stark naked.

A neighbor said the boys’acted like cavemen, as if they had never seen the sun,” WJDT reported.

Another street resident, Christine Eder, said the children looked like they had “never been outside.”

“They just walked differently,” Eder said. “Their hair looked like it had never been brushed, never cut. They didn’t know the outside existed.’

Eder said the detached house is normally quiet and she had never seen anyone go in and out, let alone hear children.

She was taken aback by the scene outside the normally nondescript home and kept watch over the boys while her husband called 911.

Koch appeared on Monday Milwaukee County intake court, where the assistant district attorney described living conditions as “like something out of a horror movie,” WJDT said.

Milwaukee County Assistant District Attorney Mallory Davis said the boys were locked in their rooms, where the windows were boarded up and the doors locked from the outside.

Officers called to the residence described it as a “terrible hoarding situation” with the floor not even visible due to the accumulation of belongings.

Conditions were so bad that the children’s heads had to be shaved because their hair was full of feces.

“These children have been horribly damaged by their mother’s actions,” Davis said.

“They are totally uneducated. They are not potty trained even at their age.

“They’re basically unable to function in society right now.”

Manke, who has long hair and a thick ginger beard, told investigators he has lived in the home since 2007, while Koch said she moved in with her children about four years ago.

During a police questioning, Manke said he knew living conditions were not good for the children, but that he had to “choose his battle” with Koch to avoid a fight.

He added that in the four years they lived under his roof, the children had never seen a doctor or gone to school, as Koch homeschooled them.

Koch, whose hair was very messed up in her police photos, also “admitted that the house is not habitable” and said “her boys deserve better,” according to WDJT.

Koch has been posted $30,000 bail, which officials say she cannot afford. Manke’s cash bail was set at $6,500 and it is unclear if he paid it.

If convicted on all charges, they each face prison terms of up to 43 years and fines of up to $120,000.

Koch could be sentenced to an additional $20,000 fine and 18 months in prison for the two offenses.

Their preliminary hearings are scheduled for July 26.

Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson said he hopes those responsible for the “horrible” treatment of the children “see justice.”

“I’m glad those kids were able to escape, it’s a terrible, unfortunate situation,” he said.

“No child should have that kind of experience, especially with relatives of theirs, in any home, in any community in Milwaukee, or Wisconsin, or the United States.

“I hope the people who were responsible, their parents, see some justice in this.”