Adoptive parents who told teen daughters “they’d get sick” if not fed from a bottle and turned the basement into a punishment chamber where the girls slept on totes, were sentenced
Tennessee – In a deeply unsettling case in Tennessee that uncovered layers of cruelty disguised as parenting, a Michigan couple, identified as 45-year-old Jason K. and 43-year-old Jessica K., who subjected their adopted daughters to systematic abuse and starvation, have been sentenced to ten years in prison. Their convictions came after they pleaded guilty to aggravated child abuse and neglect—charges that arose from what officials described as deeply disturbing living conditions and deliberate, prolonged mistreatment.
The case broke open in February 2024 when authorities in Tennessee responded to an emergency call. One of the couple’s adopted daughters had collapsed. Her father attempted to revive her not with medical aid, but by placing her under cold water. Paramedics were shocked at the girl’s condition: her skin showed signs of discoloration, her body temperature was at 95.6 degrees, and she was so physically underdeveloped that responders initially guessed she was no older than eight, but actually the girl turned out to be 12 years old. It wasn’t long before first responders requested she be airlifted to a hospital. The severity of her condition left no room for delay. But instead of showing concern, the couple hesitated. They didn’t want the medical helicopter—Jessica’s lawyer would later explain it was out of concern for cost.
The truth began to unravel when paramedics and investigators looked deeper. The girl and her younger sister, both adopted, were severely malnourished. They didn’t eat solid food. Not because of any medical condition, but because, as they were told, “they’d get sick” if they weren’t fed from a bottle. That claim would be repeated by both parents and then chillingly confirmed by the girl herself. When questioned, she explained that she and her sister were forced to drink their meals from a bottle because they “eat too much and would get sick.” It wasn’t a matter of health—it was a method of control, of suppression, of reducing children to dependency under a fabricated rule.
And eating “food” from a bottle wasn’t the only tool of punishment. Both girls were forced to sleep in the basement, alone, in low temperatures. There were no blankets, no beds, just hard plastic totes beneath their small frames. Their only crime: bedwetting. This cold, stripped-down basement became their nighttime prison. Their biological siblings, however, stayed upstairs—well-fed, unharmed, and away from the torment. A total of eight children lived in the home, including four adopted and four biological. Only two of the adopted girls were visibly suffering. Following the incident, the Sheriff’s Office moved quickly to secure a warrant for a full welfare check. The results confirmed what paramedics had feared: both girls were severely underdeveloped, showing signs of prolonged malnutrition. One of them had already lost consciousness from sheer physical depletion.
Nearly two years after their arrest, Jason and Jessica stood in court. They pleaded guilty and accepted a sentence of 10 years behind bars—without the possibility of parole. Their time already spent in the county jail will count toward their total sentence, but they will serve the remainder in their home state of Michigan. As part of the court’s decision, a permanent restraining order was issued. The couple is barred from any direct or indirect contact with the two girls they once claimed to parent. No calls. No letters. No visits. For the victims, the path to recovery has only begun. And for the public, the case serves as a haunting reminder: abuse doesn’t always come with bruises. Sometimes, it’s starvation masked as medical advice. Sometimes, it’s a bottle instead of a meal. And sometimes, it’s a basement where children sleep on plastic, in silence, afraid to cry out.
