John Edward Kluth and Sonja Kay Kluth beat, choked, whipped, and burned their three adopted children, two boys aged 15 and 11, and a 9 year old girl. The Kluths also forced the children to eat pet food, kept the boys padlocked in a storm shelter with a bucket to urinate in each night for months, and locked the oldest in a dog crate for hours on end. The children were homeschooled and the family lived in Oklahoma. The children’s abuse was discovered when they ran away from home and were found sleeping in a box. All three children were illiterate. John and Sonja Kluth were sentenced to life in prison.

Date: February 23, 2011
Location: Yukon, Oklahoma