Children’s book author Jennifer Wolfthal and husband exposed for double life in house of horrors

Jan 21 / New York Post
A Florida children’s book author and her husband were each sentenced to more than a decade in prison after pleading guilty to abusing their three adopted children.


Jennifer Wolfthal, the author of “A Real Friend,” and her husband, Joseph Wolfthal, an engineer for Lockheed Martin, pleaded guilty on Jan. 13 to aggravated child abuse and neglect of a child with great bodily harm.

Jennifer Wolfthal, 44, was sentenced to 12 years in prison, while her husband got 10 years behind bars, according to the plea agreement.

“This plea and sentencing agreement ensures that the Wolfthals will spend significant time in prison while it protects the already-traumatized victims from the stress of having to testify,” a spokesperson for the State Attorney’s Office in Florida’s 18th judicial circuit said. 
“The State Attorney’s office made sure law enforcement and the children’s new guardian supported this sentence before it agreed to it.”

Cops launched an investigation in 2021 after the couple’s then 8-year-old adopted daughter was brought to the hospital by Joseph Wolfthal with organ failure, unconscious and multiple injuries.

The 8-year-old child was suffering from many conditions including pneumonia, a staph infection and liver failure. She was also malnourished, had bruises, a skin infection and open wounds.

“Due to the height and weight of [the girl], it is not likely the swollen bruise on the back of her head and the laceration on her lip and broken tooth were caused by off balance falls,” the police report read.

Jennifer Wolfthal was arrested on New Year’s Day 2022 after her husband went to the hospital with the girl.

The couple also had two other adopted children – a 9-year-old and 11-year-old.

Officials took the other children from the home, police said.

They told cops that they’d been locked in their rooms and punished in myriad ways, including being forced to write “I’m a fool” over and over, records show. The two displayed “symptoms of malnourishment, bruises and lack of care.”

The doorknobs on the children’s bedrooms were installed backwards, with the locks on the outside.

Wolfthal’s book is listed on Amazon but has been removed from sale.

The publishers wrote: ” At Clavis, we believe that children are beautiful and deserve our utmost respect and care. That is why we publish books to enrich their lives and help them grow up learning to know themselves, how to interact with others in a good way and how the world works. We were made aware of horrific news regarding one-time Clavis’ author Jennifer Wolfthal’s arrest and strongly condemn child abuse, abandonment and neglect, today and always. We will do what’s within our power to cease commercialization of her book further.”