OSHKOSH, Wis. – A judge reduced the bail Monday for two parents accused of mentally harming their 13-year-old daughter by confining her to her bedroom for months.
Winnebago Circuit Judge Barbara Key freed Clint and Lynn Engstrom of Oshkosh on $10,000 signature bonds after they each pleaded not guilty to one count of causing mental harm to a child, a felony punishable by up to 12 1/2 years in prison.
The Engstroms have been in jail on $25,000 cash bonds since they were charged in mid-January.
The teen testified last week that her parents ordered her to stay in her cold, sparsely furnished upstairs bedroom for months as punishment for bad behavior that included hitting, kicking, lying and making "mean comments."
The parents were charged after the girl was taken to a hospital in early January because she was pulling out her hair and hearing voices.
As a condition of bail, Key ordered the parents to have no contact with the girl or each other and only supervised contact with their three other children, according to court records.
Prosecutors requested separate trials. Lynn Engstrom's was scheduled for June 18. Clint Engstrom's was scheduled for July 9.
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