By Shereen Siewert
A former Wausau-area man whose 5-year-old child died 10 days after being hospitalized for a skull fracture and brain bleed will avoid prison if he successfully completes a three-year probation term.
Both parents were charged criminally in connection with the death of the child, who tested positive for having alcohol in her system, according to court filings. The couple adopted the child just six weeks before she died.
Of the two parents the child’ mother, 37-year-old Sumitra Stolp, faced the most serious charges including first-degree reckless homicide, neglecting a child, chronic neglect of a child and two counts of resisting or obstructing an officer. Her case is still winding its way through the court system.
Her husband, 42-year-old Jonathan Stolp, was charged with neglecting a child, chronic neglect of a child and resisting or obstructing an officer. Mr. Stolp, who previously listed a Weston address, now lives in Baldwin. He was sentenced Friday in Marathon County Circuit Court.
In a 12-page criminal complaint, police laid out a case against the child’s parents, whose stories changed multiple times while speaking with investigators. Initially, the child’s parents told police they took the girl to the park to play, when she fell and landed on her head. Hours later, the couple said, they awoke to find their daughter having a seizure and called for an ambulance. SAFER responded and transported the girl to Marshfield Medical Center, where doctors had her transported to Marshfield for further treatment based on her condition.
In a later interview with police, both parents said they gave the girl medicine to ease her cough but denied giving her anything to aid in sleep. Later, they allegedly told police they realized they had given the child a double dose of liquid Tylenol PM, and admitted giving the girl “a little bit” of Nyquil, a night time cold medicine for adults “a couple times when she really, really isn’t sleeping,” court documents state.
Sumi Stolp’s story continued to change as she spoke with investigators.
In a subsequent interview, Ms. Stolp told police she was rocking the child in a recliner and the child “threw herself back” and fell to the floor. But later, she allegedly told police she got out of the recliner holding the girl, tripped and fell with the girl. Sumi Stolp also admitted she lied about the child falling in the park, court documents show.
But pediatric specialists in Marshfield said the child had a significant skull fracture that wrapped around both sides of the skull, injuries that appeared consistent with a non-accidental trauma such as shaking or slamming a child. The girl also had a fractured right foot, according to the doctor’s report.
Police say the girl was given six times the recommended dose of Tylenol, which can be toxic, along with the Nyquil, which contains 10 percent alcohol.
On Friday, Circuit Judge Scott Corbett granted the State’s request to dismiss the most serious child neglect charge against Jonathan Stolp. The charge was read into the record for sentencing purposes.
On the two remaining charges, chronic neglect of a child and resisting or obstructing an officer, Judge Corbett ordered a withheld sentence with a total three years of probation plus 10 months in jail. In a withheld sentence, defendants can be forced to return to court and be sentenced for their original crime if they are not successful on probation.
Jonathan Stolp is also prohibited from having contact with anyone younger than 18 without supervision by a chaperone, and he is required to complete a parenting course, undergo counseling and take a mental health assessment and followup as deemed appropriate by his supervising agent. He was granted 78 days jail credit that will only be applied if his probation is revoked, but is not applied to his conditional jail sentence. Mr. Stolp will complete his sentence in Chippewa County, where he currently resides.
Sumitra Stolp, who is free on a $75,000 cash bond, is due in court in April for a pretrial hearing to address the charges in her case. Court records show she filed for divorce in January.
