Left: Jason Klimp. Right: Jessica Klimp (Fentress County Jail).
A Michigan couple has been given additional prison time after authorities said they starved their adopted daughters and confined them in dog cages.
Jessica Klimp, 45, and Jason Klimp, 47, were each sentenced to eight years and three months in prison after entering no-contest pleas to two counts of first-degree child abuse, according to the Michigan Attorney General’s Office. The pair is already serving 10-year sentences in Tennessee for abusing the girls while staying at a rental property there.
Prosecutors said the couple, whose parental rights have since been terminated, subjected two of their four adopted children to prolonged abuse. Investigators said the girls were deprived of food, locked inside dog cages and restrained using what officials described as a “man-made straitjacket.”
The latest Michigan case moved forward after the Klimps were extradited from Tennessee last year. Authorities said the charges stemmed from evidence pointing to a pattern of torture and abuse involving the children.
The investigation in Michigan intensified after the couple’s arrest in Tennessee in February 2024. In the aftermath of that arrest, Michigan State Police carried out a search warrant at the Klimps’ home in Wexford County.
During the search, investigators said they found a homemade restraint device in a bedroom, along with security alarms attached to the bedroom door. They also reported discovering dog cages inside the home that appeared to have been used to hold the children.
“Kids deserve to grow up in a loving home free from abuse,” Michigan Attorney General Nessel said in a statement following the plea. “The cruelty that these children endured is heartbreaking, and while no outcome can erase the trauma, I hope these convictions will provide a sense of justice and healing.”
The investigation into the adoptive parents began when authorities in Fentress County, Tennessee, responded to the family’s home after one of their adopted daughters collapsed. Jason Klimp reportedly placed the child in a cold shower in an attempt to wake her up before paramedics arrived.
The 12-year-old girl had suffered so much neglect and abuse that first responders initially believed she was between 6 and 8 years old. A paramedic testified at a previous hearing that the girl’s body temperature was a dangerously low 95.6 degrees and her skin was discolored.
The girl and her sister were severely underweight due to a diet of only “liquefied food” from a bottle. She later told police they were forced to eat that way because they “ate too much and would get sick.”
Investigators also learned that the couple would severely punish the kids for things like wetting the bed, forcing them to sleep on plastic totes in a 60-degree basement without blankets. A total of eight children were living in the home at the time — four biological and four adopted.
In October, a Tennessee judge sentenced the couple to 10 years behind bars for aggravated child abuse. They were subsequently returned to Michigan to face the Wexford County charges.
