Trending
BROWN COUNTY -- An Evan couple originally facing three felonies and five gross misdemeanor charges in a child restraint case received a stay of adjudication in Brown County District Court recently after pleading guilty to one gross misdemeanor count of contributing to need for child protection or services.
Daniel Fromm and Jessica Fromm, 523 Park Ave., Evan, were sentenced Oct. 19 and Nov. 30, respectively, to one year of supervised probation, with conditions. They may work off up to half of the fines by performing Sentence to Service.
Daniel Fromm was fined $900; Jessica Fromm $700.
The other charges that were dismissed include two counts of felony child neglect, felony child endangerment; plus gross misdemeanor child neglect, malicious punishment of a child and false imprisonment-unreasonable restraint of children.
"Our overwhelming, primary concern was for the ongoing safety of the child, which we achieved through swift action from the Brown County Sheriff's Office and Brown County Human Services," said Brown County Chief Deputy County Attorney Dan Kalk.
According to court documents, the Brown County Sheriff's Office received a child protection summary on the Fromm's daughter on Jan. 28, 2019. A mandated reporter was concerned about a transverse humerus (upper arm bone) fracture in which the edges looked rather old. Daniel Fromm, the step-father of the victim, said the fracture was caused by the victim banging on a door.
Fromm told law enforcement they were struggling with her, had her on Lexapro and said they were concerned about self-inflicted injurious behavior.
The Fromms said the only way to calm her down was to put the girl in her room and "let her go" until she calmed down.
The Fromms said they did not know how the girl was injured, but assumed it was from banging into walls in the home. Daniel Fromm said the girl ran around her room and banged her head on the walls.
Law enforcement noticed the door knobs were turned around so the girl could be locked in her room and not get out. Fromm said he felt the lock kept the girl safe and that her fits usually lasted five to ten minutes but sometimes as long as 30 minutes.
A few days later, the girl was seen at the Midwest Children's Resource Center in St. Paul. A doctor said the fracture would not be the result of her hitting a door. He expressed concerns about the girl's weight being at the third percentile, meaning 97 percent of children are at the same weight or heavier than she was.