Boy dead in own filth in locked room; dad, fiancee charged

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

21 minutes ago

ANNVILLE, Pa. (AP) — A Pennsylvania man and his fiancee imprisoned the man’s 12-year-old son in a darkened room for years, starving him and beating him while treating their other children well, until he was finally found dead in his own filth, authorities said.

Scott Schollenberger Jr., 41, and Kimberly Maurer, 35, of Annville, are each charged with homicide and child endangerment, Pennlive.com reported. Both were held without bail, and it wasn’t known Monday whether either has an attorney to speak for them.

The charges stem from the death of Maxwell Schollenberger, whose body was found May 26. The boy was naked, and his feces-covered body was sprawled across a soiled bed in a room that was also caked with it.

The boy never received medical care, wasn’t enrolled in school and was rarely seen even by his siblings, who lived in the same house with the couple. There were no lights in the boy’s room, and the window shades were closed with duct tape. Metal hooks kept the room locked from the outside.

Read more: https://apnews.com/2dcc250d8eb46b1599c8abc365579287

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'Horrific conditions': Boy, 12, found dead in feces-ridden room; father and fiancee charged
Scott Fremont Schollenberger Jr. and Kimberly Marie Maurer face homicide and related charges.
Ted Czech
York Daily Record

For years, a boy was hidden from the outside world, locked inside a dark, feces-ridden room with little food or water, by the very people who were expected to nurture him.

In May, Annville Township Police, along with members of the Lebanon County Detective Bureau, made the grisly discovery of Maxwell Schollenberger's body in a second-floor room of a home, according to charging documents.

"Both the bed and the victim's body were wholly covered in fecal matter," documents state. "The door and its frame contained three metal hooks ... to lock the child in his bedroom."

. . .

"Claw marks appeared in the child victim’s sheets," according to a news release from Lebanon County District Attorney's office. "Max Schollenberger’s bedroom was entirely devoid of light and furniture, aside from the bed wherein he died. The bedroom’s windows contained shades and doors. The shades were taped to the window frames and the doors were screwed shut; the window coverings rendered the child unable to see in or out."

More:
https://www.ydr.com/story/news/crime/2020/09/14/boy-12-found-dead-feces-ridden-room-father-and-fiancee-charged/5791418002/

[chowder66]

2. REALLY? That's what you have to say? My god a little boy is dead from blunt trauma, died covered in

feces and this is the first thing that comes to mind?

Fuck. Get some empathy.

[RhodeIslandOne]

5. The county went 65-30 for you know who

Just sayin'.

[chowder66]

6. Then discuss that in an article about the election not the brutal death of a child. NT

[kimbutgar]

9. I'm sorry it was an insensitive comment

And I deleted it. It was wrong of me to be snarky about the death of an innocent child by two monsters.

[chowder66]

23. Thanks Kimbutgar.

I'm sorry I was harsh but I read the whole article and it devastated me to hear of that young boy's horrors. As you can imagine, it hit me the wrong way.

[bucolic_frolic]

3. wow those are dark and evil minds

insanity would be grossly inappropriate to describe them

[BlueDawn]

4. Look at their disgusting faces.

Look at how pitiful they look in their mug shots. The only thing they're sorry about is that they got caught. They feel sorry for themselves, not the poor child they tortured.

I hope they rot in jail. Despicable excuses for human beings.

[chowder66]

7. This is sickening. My heart aches for that poor child. nt

[moose65]

8. My God, this is absolutely horrific

The ability of humans to do these horrific things apparently has no bottom. This is absolutely heartbreaking for that child. There is nothing that could EVER justify one iota of the way he was treated.

Rest in peace, Max.

[sdfernando]

10. GODDAMNED evil fucking creatures

These are not humans...I hope they rot in their own filth for the rest of their miserable existence!

RIP Maxwell

[NNadir]

11. Oh, my God...how?...how?... n/t.

[LiberalLovinLug]

12. Fiancee? Good catch there Kimberly

Honestly. I don't know how long she knew him, or how big a part she played, but ffs woman, THIS is your idea of a prince charming that might in future, take care of your own children?

[Tetrachloride]

13. A town of 4700

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annville_Township,_Lebanon_County,_Pennsylvania

If the residence was rural, its easier to get away with that.

I wonder what the nearest neighbors knew.

[JohnnyRingo]

14. People escape prisons.

Perhaps the boy was mentally handicapped, but even then, anyone with nothing to do all day except plot their escape will usually be successful over time. It wasn't Alcatraz.

I don't want to come off as un-empathetic, nor am I excusing these monsters of parental units, but I think there's more to this story than what is presented here. Perhaps we'll learn more.

[rwsanders]

19. Not necessarily. There is a series of books, the author's name is Dave Pelzer...

A Child Called "It", The Lost Boy, and A Man Named Dave. They chronicle a very similar story. For reasons unknown, his mother singled him out for horrific abuse.
I can't remember how he finally ended it, but this kid was young. Someone growing up with that level of abuse may not have been physically or psychologically able to escape. Previous attempts may have resulted in extreme violence.

[Shrike47]

22. I was an attorney for Children's Services for many years and ran in to several of these cases.

One child is singled out and abused and neglected. There is no particular reason, the child is just the scapegoat for everything that’s wrong. Then the child won’t do what the parent demands ( for instance, the hungry child raids the forbidden refrigerator) and the parent escalates. People justify amazing behavior to themselves.

This is one reason I dislike home schooling. Every case I saw like this involved a home schooled child. That’s how the parent avoided intervention.

[Judi Lynn]

27. As long as they keep the threat of that child's fate fresh in the other children's minds,

they are going to be completely submissive, living in fear of displeasing the overseers. Ongoing terrorism of the others.

[yardwork]

32. I recommend that you self-delete this post.

If you read the article it's clear that he had no chance of escape.

[Frustratedlady]

15. OMG! There are no words.

[Initech]

16. Lock these shitheads up and throw away the key!

[cstanleytech]

17. Words fail me..........................

[dalton99a]

18. "He weighed 47.5 pounds when he died" - after 12 years of TORTURE.

In an autopsy in June, the child was found to have suffered starvation, malnutrition and multiple blunt force traumas throughout his head and body, dying from the blunt force head trauma. He weighed 47.5 pounds when he died.

[Wuddles440]

20. This degree of evil....

is really difficult to comprehend. I wouldn't normally endorse or condone torture, but for this vermin I'll make an exception. Make them suffer long and hard. Fucking scum!

[Yeehah]

21. More evidence that humans deserve extinction

Someone convince me that humans are not murderous, evil apes.

[BigmanPigman]

29. Apes don't do this nearly as much as people do.

Humans are the most inhumane.

[marlakay]

24. Lock them up and throw away the key!

I think they deserve the worst food and a cell with no windows by themselves.

[Bayard]

25. I wonder what went through the minds of the other children?

I wonder if they grew up with it, did they think this was normal? Were they just glad it wasn't them?

Article said they were healthy.

Horrific. Devoid of humanity, and should be treated as such.

[Judi Lynn]

28. Physically healthy. Undoubtedly deeply traumatized inwardly. n/t

[JI7]

36. It also says the other kids rarely saw him. I didn't click the link

but I want to know how old the other kids are.

[C Moon]

26. Sad and somber because they got caught.

[Stuart G]

30. A very short paragraph why the U.S.A. has people like this:

335,000,000 million people in U.S.A. Lack of funding to check on families. Lack of qualified people to discover where & why children are not attending school. A good number of people don't care about children in such a situation. Is there a national program to stop this? Or is this a state problem?
... One political party seems to lack any concern for children like this. You can list others. This is very sad..

[Stuart G]

31. This small town is about 18 miles east of Harrisburg PA.

Post 13 has a link about this place.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

33. I wish

We could catch and kill people that would do that to a child. If a child is tortured kill the fucking parents.

I hate sociopaths. In my mind the world would be better if they all were dead.

[Duppers]

37. Exactly! What could a poor child have done

To have deserve such torture?! Nothing.

There's no possible redemption for such cruelty. They're beyond hope.

[Zeus69]

34. Fine with the death penalty here

I'll even flip the switch

[smirkymonkey]

35. There is a special place in hell for scum like this.

That poor little boy never had a chance. He probably never experienced one moment of love or happiness in his short life. Just abuse, neglect and degradation. My heart just breaks for this poor kid and what he suffered through.

People like this should be sterilized and locked up for the rest of their miserable lives.