Left: Jason Klimp. Right: Jessica Klimp (Fentress County Jail).
A mother and father are headed to prison for a decade after their two adopted children were found to be malnourished and were forced to sleep on plastic totes in the basement of their Tennessee home.
Jason Klimp, 45, and Jessica Klimp, 43, pleaded guilty Monday to aggravated child abuse and neglect, the 8th Judicial District Attorney General told local media outlets. The pair was sentenced to 10 years behind bars.
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Authorities in Fentress County responded to the Klimp home in February 2024 after one of their adopted children collapsed. Her father put her in a cold shower in attempt to wake her up. Because of her size, first responders thought she was between 6 and 8 years old, but she was actually 12.
Her body temperature was 95.6 degrees and her skin was discolored, a paramedic testified at a previous hearing, according to local NBC affiliate WBIR. She was in such bad shape that paramedics requested she be airlifted to a hospital. The parents claimed the girl and her biological sister were unable to eat solid foods. The 12-year-old later told cops she and her sister had to eat from a bottle because they "eat too much and would get sick." Her sister also was malnourished and underdeveloped, cops said.
Investigators also learned that the two girls were forced to sleep on plastic totes in the 60-degree basement without blankets as a form of punishment because they wet the bed, according to arrest warrants obtained by CBS affiliate WVLT. A total of eight kids were living in the home, four of whom were adopted while the other four were the Klimps' biological children.
The suspects are no longer allowed to have contact with the two victims. They will serve the rest of their sentence in their home state of Michigan, per officials.
