Children’s book author and engineer husband exposed for double life in house of horrors

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A Florida children’s author – known for penning stories about friendship – was charged alongside her husband for abusing and neglecting their adopted children, authorities said.

Jennifer Wolfthal, the author of “A Real Friend,” and her husband, Joseph Wolfthal, an engineer for Lockheed Martin, pleaded guilty on Jan. 13 to aggravated child abuse and neglect of a child with great bodily harm, according to plea agreements obtained by Fox News Digital.

Jennifer Wolfthal will be sentenced to 12 years in prison, while her husband will be sentenced to 10 years behind bars, according to the plea agreement.

“This plea and sentencing agreement ensures that the Wolfthals will spend significant time in prison while it protects the already-traumatized victims from the stress of having to testify,” a spokesperson for the State Attorney’s Office in Florida’s 18th judicial circuit said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “The State Attorney’s office made sure law enforcement and the children’s new guardian supported this sentence before it agreed to it.”

AUTHOR OF CHILDREN’S BOOK AND HUSBAND CHARGED WITH ABUSING THEIR OWN KIDS

Joseph and Jennifer Wolfthal pleaded guilty to aggravated child abuse and neglect of a child with great bodily harm on Jan. 13. (Seminole County Sheriff’s Office)

The investigation into the couple was launched in 2021 after their then 8-year-old adopted daughter was brought to the hospital with organ failure, unconscious and covered in injuries. The couple also had two other adopted children – a 9-year-old and 11-year-old. 

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“Due to the height and weight of [the girl], it is not likely the swollen bruise on the back of her head and the laceration on her lip and broken tooth were caused by off balance falls,” the police report reads.

READ JENNIFER WOLFTHAL’S PLEA AGREEMENT: APP USERS CLICK HERE

READ JOSEPH WOLFTHAL’S PLEA AGREEMENT: APP USERS CLICK HERE

While the girl was in the hospital, investigators visited the family home and said they found two other children with “symptoms of malnourishment, bruises and lack of care.”

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Police said the children’s bedrooms had their doorknobs installed backwards, with the locks on the outside.

During additional searches of the home, authorities found more than 1,100 written paragraphs reading: “My body stays flat on the bed at all times. I was never given permission to move or say anything. Now I get to write about this along with everything else. I am a fool.”

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Jennifer Wolfthal, the author of a children’s book titled “A Real Friend,” is set to be sentenced to 12 years in prison. Her husband faces a 10-year sentence. (Amazon.com)

The book is still for sale on Amazon, but reviewers have been filling the comments with links to news articles about the allegations against the author.

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Authorities also shared that all three of the Wolfthals’ adopted children were subject to other horrifying tales of abuse. Following the investigation, the children were moved to live with another family.

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Fox News Digital’s Michael Ruiz contributed to this report.

Sarah Rumpf-Whitten is a breaking news writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business. 

Story tips and ideas can be sent to sarah.rumpf@fox.com and on X: @s_rumpfwhitten.

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