Report: Wausau dad charged in son's death resisted education on managing son's diabetes
WAUSAU - A Wausau man charged with homicide in his diabetic son's death did not check his son's glucose levels or seek medical help even after the son was sick and vomiting all day, court records say.
Robert Glazner was charged Wednesday with second-degree reckless homicide in the death of his son, Bryden Glazner. He is being held in the Marathon County jail on a cash bond of $500,000.
Bryden, 15, died Aug. 4 from diabetes complications while in the care of his father in Wausau. Robert Glazner was arrested Tuesday in Sheboygan and brought back to Wausau. Glazner's attorney said Wednesday that Glazner moved recently because of all that had happened in Marathon County.
Bryden, a student at Mosinee High School, was living with Glazner at the home of Bryden's grandmother Linda Glazner in the 900 Block of Parcher Street, according to the criminal complaint.
Linda Glazner arrived home and found Bryden cold to the touch and called police, she said, according to the complaint.
Autopsy and toxicology tests determined he had died from a lack of care for his diabetes, according to the Wausau Police Department.
Bryden was diagnosed in December 2014 with Type 1 diabetes after being taken to the hospital because he hadn't stopped vomiting for four days, and was thirsty, the complaint said. Doctors determined he was suffering from diabetic ketoacidosis — a potentially fatal condition — and that Bryden's father needed to help him manage the disease. Bryden's parents were divorced, and he was staying with each parent on a rotating basis.
Bryden's mother, Lynn Koshalek, told USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin on Wednesday that Robert Glazner's arrest is like reliving her son's death.
"All I can say is that I tried to get help," she said in a brief telephone interview, before declining further comment.
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Bryden would be at least the second child in the Wausau area to die over the past 10 years from an untreated diabetes illness while under a parent's care.
Madeline Kara Neumann, 11, died on Easter Sunday in 2008 in Weston after her parents sought to cure her symptoms with prayer rather than seek immediate medical care. Dale and Leilani Neumann were convicted of second-degree reckless homicide in separate trials in 2009 and each was sentenced to six months in jail.
Nationally, about 100 children died in 2016 from abuse that included medical neglect, according to the federal Health and Human Services Department.
Wausau police said their investigation found probable cause to believe that Robert Glazner's lack of involvement in managing Bryden's diabetes led to the teenager's death.
According to the criminal complaint, Glazner was resistant to diabetes education and told nurses that only a judge could decide whether he needed the lessons. Nurses told him he needed to be able to help Bryden if he became ill and to understand that uncontrolled diabetes could cause health problems. The complaint said that between December 2014 and August 2017, social workers also tried to educate Glazer regarding mismanaged diabetes and that Bryden couldn't be expected to manage his care on his own.
A blood glucose reader was found on the day of Bryden's death that showed his last reading was taken on Aug. 2 — two days prior, the complaint said.
As a condition of the cash bond, Glazner is not allowed to leave the state of Wisconsin and is not to contact Bryden's mother or have anyone contact her for him.
Glazner has no other criminal charges, but has been cited three times for disorderly conduct, including once for prostitution and once for violating a protection order in a domestic abuse case.
According to his obituary, Bryden Glazner attended Mosinee High School. He "enjoyed video games and longboarding/skateboarding" and had strong religious faith.