Jaymeson Wahlstrom and Vivian Wahlstrom (Itasca County Jail).
In what prosecutors described as “one of the most abominable child abuse cases ever encountered in Minnesota,” a mother and father are behind bars for allegedly torturing their elementary-school-aged daughter.
Jaymeson Patrick Wahlstrom, 27, and Vivian Rose Wahlstrom, 24, are each facing child torture charges and are being held in the Itasca County Jail without bond. The allegations against them are nothing short of horrific and much of the brutal beatings are captured on the in-home camera in the girl’s room, according to authorities. Even the father told authorities they would be “surprised when watching the video footage and things that they will find,” a 17-page probable cause arrest affidavit said.
The Grand Rapids Police Department began investigating in early October after the girl showed up to school with a large black and yellow bruise on her upper right arm. Officers talked with the girl who told them her father had inflicted the bruise on her, police said. Investigators spoke to the father and he described the girl as having “significant needs” and he and his wife were trying to get her into therapy but there were long waiting lists, the affidavit said.
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Doctors found at least 20 bruises on her arms, mouth, ribs, back, thighs, shoulders, face and ears, cops wrote. Authorities then went to the home and saw that the girl’s room “had a bare, urine-stained mattress on the floor, one blanket, a pile of dirty dishes with moldy food on them, and a TV,” per the affidavit. In other rooms in the home, there was allegedly urine, dog feces, dirty clothing and garbage.
Cops arrested Jaymeson Wahlstrom and interviewed him at the jail on Oct. 5. Post-Miranda, he explained that the girl in question is his daughter from a previous relationship while he and his wife have two other biological children together. The father said his wife was not interested in caring for the girl and suggested to him that they send the girl to a boarding school or they would get a divorce, according to the affidavit. Jaymeson Wahlstrom also said he would punish the girl by taking food away and that she ate paint chips. She also played with an empty McDonald’s Happy Meal box because she didn’t have any other toys, the affidavit said.
Detectives reviewed videos from the girl’s room which showed her “in her room alone for long periods of time every day.” The parents allegedly would take the girl’s blanket away if she misbehaved and would constantly tell her to “lie right” by laying on her back with her hands at her side. If she moved, they would yell at her to return to that position. She was allegedly told to “go to bed” at all times of the day and only allowed to leave her room if she had to go to the bathroom. The parents also allegedly would berate her on a near-daily basis. In one instance, the girl walked out of her room and Vivian Wahlstrom yelled at her daughter “Get in your room before I f—ing kill you,” the affidavit said.
The father also reportedly described to detectives a time a few days prior to his arrest when he had “lost it” after learning his daughter had disrespected his wife. Videos showed a daylong beatdown where he hit her close to 100 times, cops noted. She was punched, slapped, kicked and slammed against the wall by her father, the affidavit said. He also ripped off her clothes. All the while, Vivian Wahlstrom allegedly egged on her husband. He continued to yell at his daughter, cops said.
“Until you have some words to say, you will not be going to school, you will not be getting food, you won’t be getting anything but your bed and the toilet,” Jaymeson Wahlstrom allegedly screamed. “You better f—ing think of some meaningful words for your mom or she won’t take care of you anymore.”
Prosecutors filed the child torture charges against the Wahlstroms on Dec. 19. Child services has taken custody of the three children.
Jake Fauchald, Itasca County Attorney, released the following statement to Twin Cities ABC affiliate KSTP.
Following a diligent investigation undertaken by the Grand Rapids Police Department, the Itasca County Attorney’s Office has filed Child Torture charges against Vivian and Jaymeson Wahlstrom. The evidence supporting these charges is primarily in the form of numerous videos taken from a camera within the Wahlstrom home that depict the Wahlstroms engaging in barbaric assaults against a child in the home. These heinous crimes are without precedent in Itasca County and rank highly amongst some of the most abominable child abuse cases ever encountered in Minnesota. The Itasca County Attorney’s Office is treating this case with the seriousness that it deserves and will seek an outcome that is commensurate with this reprehensible conduct and in the best interests of the child-victim.
The defendants have a court date scheduled for Thursday. Neither have an attorney listed in court documents.
