How Could You? Hall of Shame-Charles and Matthew Edmonson

This will be an archive of heinous actions by those involved in child welfare, foster care and adoption. We forewarn you that these are deeply disturbing stories that may involve sex abuse, murder, kidnapping and other horrendous actions.

From Clermont County, Charles and Matthew Edmonson are “accused of torturing and cruelly abusing their five adopted children has been indicted for a third time on more charges.

Charles “Chuck” Edmonson has been indicted on 22 more counts of kidnapping, abduction, child endangering and assault.

Matthew “Matt” Edmonson has been indicted on 18 counts of kidnapping and abduction. 

Clermont County Prosecuting Attorney Mark Tekulve said the Edmonsons are accused of causing serious physical harm to their five adopted children by torturing and cruelly abusing them.

Clermont County prosecutors said the children are all biological siblings and were originally brought to the married couple as foster children, with each eventually being adopted by the pair.

The children have been in and out of the hospital for various reasons, such as bruising, bleach burns, potential internal bleeding, and failure to thrive, all of which prosecutors said were explained away by their parents.

Charles Edmonson is currently serving three years in prison for engaging in sexual relations with a different adopted son, an adult at the time, who had been groomed early on from a young age.

As a result of that arrest, detectives with the Clermont County Sheriff’s Office said they recovered numerous videos of the defendants treating their special needs children “worse than prisoners of war in their own home.”

“Due to this horrific abuse, each child will suffer from mental trauma for the rest of his life,” Tekulve said.

The second-oldest child of Matt Edmonson, identified as Bailey Edmonson, was indicted along with the couple in July on two counts of felonious assault and four counts of child endangering — all felonies. The prosecutor says Bailey was complicitous in the behaviors the Edmonson couple was indicted for today.

He went on to say he believes there are more people out there with information. Anyone with more information is asked to call either the Clermont County Sheriff’s Office and ask for Mike Ross or the Clermont County Prosecutor’s Office at 513-732-7313.”

Adoptive parents indicted for a third time in ‘horrific’ abuse case

[WLWT 8/28/24 by Emily Sanderson]

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