Dad confined starving kids in room with bucket for bathroom, only let them drink water during occasional showers: Sheriff

A 40-year-old father in Florida is accused of severely abusing his two young children, allegedly starving them for days at a time while confining them to their rooms and forcing them to use a bucket as a toilet.

Wendy Louis was taken into custody Oct. 13 and charged with two counts of felony child neglect without great bodily harm, court records show.

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According to a probable cause affidavit, deputies with the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office responded to Louis’ home in the 1000 block of NE 175th Street in Miami at 7 a.m. that morning to conduct a welfare check. The children allegedly contacted relatives and told them how their father treated them.

“The victims were advising family members that they were not being fed for days,” the affidavit states. “They were only allowed to drink water from the shower, kept inside their rooms and not allowed to use the restroom.”

The children told deputies that their father often refused to feed them because he believed the government was “putting stuff in the food.” Deputies described the children as “extremely small and thin for their age,” with hair that was “unkempt and matted.”

The children also told deputies they were regularly confined for days.

“They explained they are kept inside their room and not allowed out for days at a time,” deputies wrote. “They further advised they have to use a bucket as their bathroom.”

The children told deputies they had not attended school since August 2025 and said their father had not been homeschooling them.

The documents allege that Louis “failed to provide and protect” his children with the care necessary to maintain their “physical and mental health.” Louis refused to be interviewed by investigators.

Louis was arrested at 4 p.m. on Oct. 13 in the 13000 block of Biscayne Boulevard in North Miami, according to the affidavit. He was transported and booked into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, where his bond was listed as “to be set,” as of Thursday morning, Oct. 15.

It was unclear when Louis is due in court.

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