Topeka City Councilman Jonathan Robert Schumm, 34, and his wife Allison Nicole, 32, have recently been arrested and charged after reportedly abusing five of the sixteen children under their wing.

According to The Topeka Capital-Journal, as reported in the Daily Mail, the couple have each been charged with one felony count of aggravated battery, or in the alternative case, abuse of child (torture or cruelly beating a child under the age of 18), occurring between October 7 and 11. Prosecutors said the Schumms were also each charged with four counts of endangering a child, which reportedly took place on October 31.^[1]

They were released on bond a day after their arrests and are prohibited from contacting any of their children.^[2]

The couple has four biological children and ten adopted children, including two sibling groups of five, according to Homeschooling’s Invisible Children. During a council meeting earlier this month, Schumm even mentioned that the family was in the process of adopting a twelfth child.

While little information has been revealed regarding the extent of the couple’s abusive activities, court documents list five children as victims, all between the ages of 5 and 16. At least one child, a 12-year-old, was allegedly tortured, or cruelly beaten, by the Schumm’s.^[2]

The couple, who married in May 2004, was awarded an Angels in Adoption Award in 2013, which honors individuals who help children in need of homes. In addition to this, they also received the “Project Belong 2013 Adoptive Family of the Year” award shortly before adopting the second group of five siblings.

Source:

[1] DailyMail.co.uk

[2] CBSNews.com

[3] Patheos.com