Michigan professor charged after autistic son is found dead in icy pool with arms tied to body: 'Make sure freak is okay'
GEORGETOWN, MICHIGAN: A Michigan professor has been charged with manslaughter following the drowning-related death of his 16-year-old autistic son whom he left unsupervised with his arms bound.
50-year-old Timothy Koets was arrested on Thursday, October 24 and is facing child abuse allegations around seven months after Sam, 16, died in the pool at their home in Georgetown, Michigan.
The child was discovered dead on March 28 after Koets left him unsupervised near the pool. Hours later, Koets who is a computer science teacher at Grand Rapids Community College, texted his 13-year-old daughter. In the text message, he wrote, "Okay would you make sure freak is okay? Is mom still asleep?"
She responded saying that Sam was in the pool. He then told his daughter to "pull him out by the hand" and then asked, "Is he out? What's going on?"
Ottawa County Detective David Bytwerk shared, "subsequent examinations of the phone show no attempt by Mr. Koets to contact 911, though his son, who he knew had diminished capacity, was standing in chest-deep water which had ice flowing in it."
"Nor did he appear to have made any other attempts to have other persons come assist his child other than texting a 13-year-old child to try to get the child out of the pool or to make arrangements to get him out of the pool," he continued.
It is reported that Sam had spent at least an hour in the icy water before emergency services were called. As per court documents, Sam has a history of aggression towards himself and others.
The child was kept in 'deplorable' conditions, the investigators revealed. They shared that he lived in the basement with no windows and his mattress had no sheet and was stained with feces. According to the documents, "Fecal matter was smeared on the walls and dirty diapers were found throughout the room".
As reported by Fox, Koets admitted to leaving the child unattended and believes he told the boy's mother to check on him. However, the mother who was returning from working the night shift went straight to bed instead of outside.
According to the officials, "(The victim) was found with his arms bound to his body. Ice was noted to be in the pool due to the cold weather. The pool had no fence surrounding it and had over four feet of water in it."