Post by MuleSkinner on Jul 24, 2007 8:03:46 GMT -5
Couple locked up boy during Packers game
Mon Jul 23, 10:00 PM ET
MILWAUKEE - A couple who admitted locking a 7-year-old boy in his room with a bucket for a toilet while they watched Packers games at a casino received jail sentences Monday. Circuit Judge Jeffrey Wagner called the couple's actions "abhorrent" and ordered them to undergo psychological screening.
"What both of you did certainly shocks the conscience of the community," Wagner said.
Scott Scherer, 39, and Melanie Hardrath, 30, admitted locking Hardrath's son in his room with a loaf of bread, peanut butter and jelly, and a bucket that he would have to clean when they returned.
They had enough money to hire a baby sitter, said Assistant District Attorney Chris Liege, who showed the judge photographs of the couple's extensive collection of Packers memorabilia.
Wagner scolded Hardrath and Scherer, a former youth counselor, for not thinking about what would happen if the boy got sick or the house caught fire while they were at the casino.
He sentenced Hardrath to seven months in a county jail and Scherer to nine months. Both will serve four years of probation, with a stayed sentence of two years in prison and more extended supervision.
The couple also can't have contact with each other in the presence of the boy, now 8. He is staying with relatives.
The couple's defense attorney, Richard Johnson, said he couldn't explain their behavior.
"What do you do?" he asked the judge. "Maybe this coming football season, lock them in a room with a bucket and make them watch Bears games."
