MANITOWOC COUNTY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Two Wisconsin lawmakers are pushing a new piece of legislation following the death of a 7-year-old boy in Manitowoc County.
“As a parent myself it’s just incredibly sad,” says Republican State Senator Andre Jacque of De Pere.
The death of Ethan Hauschultz has resonated with lawmakers such as Jacque.”It really is tragic when you have a child who was taken out of a dangerous environment and put into a situation that was even more dangerous in this case,” he explains.
Prior to Ethan’s death, he had been taken from his mother following allegations of neglect and placed with his uncle Timothy Hauschultz and his wife Tina.
According to a criminal complaint, that’s where Ethan allegedly endured months of torture and abuse, he eventually died from blunt force trauma and hypothermia caused by the couple’s son Damian Hauschultz in April of 2018.
“There were red flags all over the place in Ethan’s death, he was placed with a caregiver that had multiple instances of violence, and situations where he was holding knives to people’s throats, and physical abuse and child abuse,” says Jacque.
Jacque believes Ethan’s death could’ve been avoided if laws had been in place to protect him. he has now introduced a bill in Ethan’s name, with the hope of fixing what he calls a loophole in the system.
“So really what this focuses on is if you have none parents who are convicted of child abuse, or has a similar background they’re not going to be entrusted with another child,” he says.
Timothy, Tina and Damian Hauschultz have been charged in the death of Ethan, but Jacque wants to make sure nothing like this happens ever again.
“Clearly this was a case where that placement should’ve never been made. You go through Ethan’s final hours and just want to make sure that never happens to any other child,” says Jacque.
Jacque says he’s hopeful that Ethan’s law will pass the state assembly and senate and signed into law sometime next year.
