Here's what I know

I wasn't going to do a followup post on this case, but since the Twin Cities media doesn't seem to be as interested in covering the court case nearly as much as they did the arrest, and since the literally hundreds of Google searches leading people to my blog in the past few days indicate a continued high level of interest, I'll relay all that I know at this point.

Peter Bernard Zenk, Jr., the (probably now ex-) Minneapolis firefighter who used to live two doors down from me (I refuse to call him my former "neighbor") was convicted of two felonies related to his severe physical abuse of his 1-year-old son. Zenk is a violent alcoholic who has a long history of domestic violence, as was shown by the six women I met who showed up to testify in the last abuse case against him, when he pled guilty to 5th degree domestic assault against his former wife rather than face all of them in open court.

Pathetically, my former neighbor across the street, a very sweet and nice lady, was subpoenaed and had to testify in the trial, as Zenk apparently accused all of his neighbors of trashing his house and having a party in it following their helping his former girlfriend (and mother of his son) move out the day after the incident occurred. I was there, and I assure you, nothing of the sort happened.

What surprised a lot of people who followed the trial was that the judge in the case, following Zenk's conviction, ordered him held without bail in the Dakota County Jail until his sentencing in order to receive a psychiatric evaluation, as a result of his testimony in the case. Apparently his turn on the witness stand convinced the judge that he couldn't be trusted to remain out on the street without the danger of his committing further crimes. Here's what the woman who had to testify reported:

"However, the judge said to him 'I normally let people go home and get their affairs in order however, after hearing you testify I think that you have psychological problems so I am sending you straight to jail where you are to undergo psychological testing'".

Frightening.

His former girlfriend was nice enough to comment this morning on my original post about the incident:

"Pete was convicted of two felonies for hitting my son. He was sent directly to jail per the order of the judge for a psych evaluation. I have yet to get an answer from the MFD. as to whether he will loose his city job. I want to thank all involved for their help. I have learned so many things over the last year about Pete that my heart goes out to everyone that has had any connection to his acts of abuse. The fact that he denied any abuse is not to surprising, but the fact that his sister who reached out to me after pete kicked me in the head and told me about the abuse that she endured from her ex husband, is just a testament that there is a lot of abuse, and covering up going on in that family. Shame on you. FYI the whiskey plates are from the father. My friend said it best in that his mother is the one to blame for all this. She has covered for her son so many times and has taught her daughters to cover for him as well, but fate has caught up to the bastard. I don't think any amount of counseling can help him, and I really feel sorry for his next victim. Again, I would like to thank all who were involved with this case. This was a victory not just for my son and I, but for all the victims that were never heard. Thank you"

We're glad you and your son are doing OK, and hope that you get the appropriate help to recover from your time with Zenk the Abuser.

Why am I publicizing this case on my blog once again? For one specific reason: To ensure that any woman in the future whom Zenk tries to romance will come across his name and deeds should she Google him, understand exactly what she's getting into, and hopefully avoid the horrific experiences that so many other women have gone through with him.

Enjoy your time in the slammer, Pete. I understand that other inmates don't look very fondly on child abusers. I guess you won't be getting much sleep in the foreseeable future.