A 36-year-old Cheyenne woman and her 35-year-old boyfriend await arraignment in Laramie County District Court on charges related to allegedly forcing the woman’s 14-year-old son to drink gallons of water that sent him into convulsions.
Stephanie Linke and Michael Gruchacz are charged with aggravated child abuse — torture or cruel confinement and aggravated child abuse — responsible for physical injury. A court official said Monday their arraignment has not yet been scheduled.
Court records show that Cheyenne police was called to Cheyenne Regional Medical Center on Oct. 16 after Linke’s 14-year-old son was brought in unresponsive and stiff, “drooling,” witha body that was “ice cold” and suffering from seizures.
Hospital staff noted several abrasions and bruises on his body and a notable wound behind his left ear, a police affidavit states. His joints “cracked and popped.”
He was diagnosed with hyponatremia, a life-threatening condition that occurs from a lower-than-normal level of sodium in the bloodstream, he also was suffering from abnormally long seizures and had low levels of phosphate in the blood.
The teen was transported quickly to Children’s Hospital Colorado in Denver.
In Denver, staff told police that Gruchacz indicated he had placed him in the bathtub prior to calling 911 early that night. Linke said that he had grabbed her breasts in alleged “sexual assaults,” hospital staff told police.
Abuse Marks
A doctor at Children’s Hospital on Oct. 29, told an investigator that the teen had marks, bruising, and scars consistent with child abuse and malnutrition. The doctor told police that without medical intervention, the teen would not have survived.
A police affidavit states that Linke told the Cheyenne officer that her son intentionally dehydrated himself because he wanted soda to drink.
“(The teen) commonly screams, yells, hits and throws up,” she told police. Linke said she had asked him to drink one gallon of water to hydrate. She asked him to drink another half gallon of water before dinner at 5 p.m.
The teen was giving another half gallon to drink before bed, she said.
At 7 p.m. on Oct. 16, Linke told the officer that the 14-year-old was “perfectly fine” when he went to use the bathroom.
“Linke heard a ‘thunk’ and ran downstairs and found (the teen) ‘passed out’ from vomiting,” she told police.
An ambulance was called and medical staff noted that his vital signs and blood sugar was OK, but he was experiencing behavioral issues. Shortly after that, because the teen was not speaking coherently, she said they brought him to the hospital.
The affidavit states that the teen had been in the household for three months and had previously lived with his grandmother.
On Oct. 18, the Cheyenne officer interviewed the teen at the hospital. The teen told him that he did not recall what happened on Oct. 16. He said Linke had told him he was going to be transferred to “mental place” to get help.
The teen told the Cheyenne officer that he had been living with his grandmother but was returned to his mom for “bad behavior.” He told the officer Gruchacz had used “corporal punishment” on him and “karate chop” to his neck area for “acting out.”
Marks on his throat came as a result of Linke using her hand to grab his throat to gain his attention and her fingernails caused the marks there, he told police.
Ordered To Drink
The teen was told he needed to drink his body weight in water every day to be properly hydrated and for the past month he placed his face or hand under the faucet in the basement bathroom and drank water.
“(The teen) does not get to use any type of cup or glass. (The teen) only drinks water except for one occasion when he drank soda,” the affidavit states. “For a couple of months, (the teen) has been washing his clothes by hand in the basement bathroom. … This was a form of punishment.”
The affidavit states the teen while urinating in the toilet had gotten urine onto a basket of his clothes next to the toilet. He was made to hand wash his clothes as punishment.
Videos from the residence the day the teen was taken to the hospital show him pacing in the basement at 10:30 a.m. with a sleeping bag on the floor and at 4 p.m. the teen standing in place on the sleeping bag in a non-lit basement. He is still standing there at 5:01 p.m. when Linke can be heard saying, “I said, chug or I’ll start holding your hand, too.”
A short time later Gruchacz yells for him to keep drinking “if you do it right, it will be quick.” At 5:19 p.m., the teen is crying and Linke yells: “Drink. More.”
“At 1906 hours (7:06 p.m.), (the teen) is seen scurrying into the basement and trips on the sleeping bag and runs into an object and cries out while attempting to reach the bathroom,” the affidavit states. “(The teen) is in obvious distress.”
Nonchalant Response
Videos show both Linke and Gruchacz “being nonchalant and without any exigency” after they find the teen in the bathroom and Gruchacz carried him to the couch.
The video shows the teen moaning and Linke repeatedly asking, "Why are you screaming?” And “Don’t hit your mom,” the affidavit states. “(The teen) does not appear to be ‘fighting’ or resisting them in any way. However, he does appear to be completely incoherent of his surroundings and struggling to maintain consciousness.”
The teen, discharged from the hospital on Oct. 28, told his interviewer during a forensic interview in Cheyenne that Linke was in charge and Gruchacz sometimes became involved to punish him.
The teen said Linke in July had him pull weeds for punishment and to earn food. In one instance, he received no food for three days. On another occasion in August, he was left outside to pull weeds and had gotten sunburned and his ears blistered. Linke and Gruchacz used alcohol and gauze to clean them.
He also told the interviewer that Linke would often make him stand in the dining room for long periods of time and make him clean the basement bathroom with bleach. On one occasion he used too much bleach and Linke got mad and pushed him into the sink hurting his chest, he told the interviewer.
Forensic interviews with the teen’s brothers, a 10-year-old and 8-year-old had them reporting that the teen was made to stand for his meals and previously only ate oatmeal and ramen noodles but then had been allowed to eat what everyone else ate. Surveillance cameras were in the home because “we don’t trust” the teen, the affidavit states that the 10-year-old told the interviewer.
‘Disrespectful’
The 10-year-old said his teen brother was usually made to stay in the basement because he was “disrespectful.”
The 8-year-old told the interviewer that his oldest brother does not play with anyone and has to stand in place. He said the teen is mean to his mom (Linke) because “he doesn’t drink the water” fast because he’s “acting like a baby.”
The affidavit states that the teen told an interviewer that the last time he was in school was when he was with his grandmother.
“(The teen) disrespected Linke, so school was taken away from him,” the affidavit states. Asked when thelast time anyone had shown him affection, the teen told the interviewer, “I don’t know.”
The affidavit states Linke told her former licensed counselor that the teen was just like his dad.
“I can’t stand him,” the affidavit states she told the counselor. “I can’t stand this kid.”
Both the aggravated child abuse charges related to torture or cruel confinement and physical injury carry penalties of up to 25 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
Both defendants waived their preliminary hearings in Cheyenne Circuit Court.
Linke remains in the Laramie County jail on a $500,000 cash bond and Gruchacz is free on a $50,000 cash bond.
Dale Killingbeck can be reached at dale@cowboystatedaily.com.
