Corbin Adoptees
Suspected Victims of Attachment Therapy
Fond du Lac, Wisconsin
Rescued 2009 at ages 7, 8, 10 and 12
Note: The following account has been prepared from press reports, personal interviews, trial transcripts, and other public records.
Four Russian adoptees, ages 8, 7, 10 and 12, were found by police and child welfare workers to be kept in rooms with piles of human waste on the floors. Police were checking on a report a one child was locked in her bedroom without being allowed to use a bathroom. A daybed with comforter was found in the room, along with piles of feces. The other children lived in similar conditions. The officers claimed they couldn’t stay in the rooms more than a few seconds because of the stench.
The parents, Donald P. Corbin, 48, and Jennifer A. Corbin, 46, of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, plead no contest to three misdemeanor charges of child neglect. Two similar charges were dismissed.
Mr. Corbin claimed his wife was a poor housekeeper. Assistant District Attorney Scott Mortier said Mrs. Corbin has mental issues.
The parents were sentenced to two years of probation and allowed to retain custody of the children as the result of this being a "Children in Need of Protection" case.
The children were said to be in good physical condition, but with "mental issues." The local paper also reported one of the children has “Reactive Attachment Disorder,” which the reporter described as having “symptoms ranging from being destructive to himself and others, and issues with urinating and defecating.”
Webography
- “Fond du Lac couple receive probation in child-neglect case,” by Russell Plummer, The Fond de Lac Reporter, 14 Apr 2009.
- “Couple accused of making children live in feces filled rooms,” The Fond de Lac Reporter, 26 Feb 2009.