Timothy Hauschultz's trial is underway in Manitowoc County in the 2018 death of a 7-year-old boy.

A trial is the accusation being tested. It is not a verdict. Prosecutors say Hauschultz ordered a punishment over Bible verses and left his son, then 14, to supervise it. The defense says the son went beyond any instruction. Opening statements are roadmaps. The boy and the son are not named in this account.

WLUK reported that the boy was found dead in a snowbank at a Newton home on April 20, 2018, and that he had been placed in the Hauschultz home as a foster child. The station, describing the criminal complaint, reported that the boy had not learned 13 Bible verses, so a punishment was ordered: carrying a log for about two hours around a backyard path. Hauschultz picked the logs and told his son, then 14, to supervise. The complaint alleges the son hit, kicked, struck, and poked the boy about 100 times, stood on his body and head while he was face-down in a puddle, and buried him under about 80 pounds of packed snow for 20 to 30 minutes with no coat or boots. The boy died of hypothermia and blunt-force injuries, the complaint says. Those are allegations in the charging document.

Court TV reported that in her opening statement Tuesday, Manitowoc County District Attorney Jacalyn LaBre told jurors the logs were not being moved anywhere, and that Hauschultz dictated the punishment. She said he and his wife left to run errands and left the son in charge, and that the son later described the snow as a kind of snow coffin. The defense told jurors the son, not Hauschultz, was responsible for how far the punishment went. WLUK reported Hauschultz faces charges including neglect of a child resulting in death and contributing to the delinquency of a child resulting in death. Court TV listed neglect resulting in death, contributing to delinquency where death is a consequence, and being a party to physical abuse of a child. He has pleaded not guilty. The trial is set for about two weeks.

The son later pleaded guilty in his own case. That plea is his. It is not proof against Hauschultz until this jury weighs it. The children are not named here. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.