Jury finds Milwaukee father guilty of all counts after locking 6 children in storage unit
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- A jury found 33-year-old Charles Dupriest guilty of child neglect charges Wednesday, Jan. 14, for locking his six children in a storage unit.
Dupriest was found guilty of eight counts of child neglect: five felonies and three misdemeanors, and a felony charge for possessing a firearm.
The jury had the case for just over an hour. Dupriest did not show any emotion while the guilty verdict was read in the courtroom.
Dupriest testified in his own trial Wednesday, Jan. 14, sharing his love for his children while on the stand.
Charles Dupriest
He said his family fell on hard times when their lease expired and had to stay with family members multiple nights a week. He also said finding stable housing was his family's primary concern at the time they were living inside the storage unit at the StorSafe near 27th and Silver Spring.
When police found them in the early morning hours of Sept. 16, his six children -- ages 2 months, 2, 3, 5, 7, and 9 -- were locked in the storage unit while Dupriest and the mother of the children were sleeping in a car with their dog.
Dupriest said his family didn't enjoy the situation they were in but doesn't believe he was neglecting his children.
"I believe I was doing everything within my ability to make sure they didn't have to sleep outside or in the truck with a broken back window at night, exposed to the elements," Dupriest said.
Wednesday morning, the prosecution rested its case after calling up its final witnesses.
Prosecutors argue this family had other options besides living in the storage unit. Doctors, police officers, and area housing directors were just some of the witnesses who testified.
Witnesses said the mother of the children didn't respond to efforts to help their family find housing.
In closing arguments, prosecuting attorney Thomas Hasle told the jury having sympathy for the struggling family is not an excuse for his responsibility to give them proper care. He says the family had safer options they rejected -- some witnesses testified the children's mother didn't answer messages from housing directors in the area.
Defense attorney Annamarie Winneke told the jury Dupriest and the mother of their children were experiencing these hardships alongside their children, which she says creates reasonable doubt about the neglect charges.
Dupriest will be sentenced in April.
The mother of the children took a plea deal last week, and her felony charges were dropped. She is charged with misdemeanors in this case.