HUDSONVILLE, MI – As his son, with severe autism, stood in ice-cold water in the family’s swimming pool, Timothy Koets, at work, told his 13-year-old daughter in a text to get him out.

The daughter texted a photo of her brother in chest-deep water. He had wraps around his arms. He looked stuck, she said.

The texting went on for half an hour. After a pause, the father wrote: “… what’s going on (?)”

The son, Samuel Koets, ultimately drowned March 28 in the backyard pool at the family’s home in the 4300 block of Port Sheldon Road in Ottawa County’s Georgetown Township.

Family members got him partially out of the pool before rescuers took over.

“Subsequent examinations of the phone show no attempts by Mr. Koets to contact 911 though his son who he knew had a 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,” Ottawa County sheriff’s Detective David Bytwerk said, in swearing out a warrant.

Timothy Koets, 50, an associate professor at Grand Rapids Community College, has been charged with involuntary manslaughter, a 15-year felony, second-degree child abuse, second-degree child abuse committed in the presence of another child, both 10-year felonies and fourth-degree child abuse, a misdemeanor.

He was arraigned Friday, Oct. 25, by Hudsonville District Judge Judy Mulder. She noted that he has never been in trouble before and said he could be released from jail by posting 10 percent of a $25,000 bond.

Koets told her he has lived in the home for 20 years and would not flee.

The detective said that interviews with the parents and a specialist at the Ottawa Area Center showed that Samuel, who was non-verbal, functioned at the level of a 13- to 17-month-old child.

He was prone to wandering and “there is a well documented history of that in Sheriff’s Department reports,” Bytwerk told Magistrate Vernon Helder.

Sheriff’s deputies documented at least 15 incidents involving the teen. In some instances, he would run around naked, or go into the water at parks, Bytwerk said, according to a transcript of the hearing.

Bytwerk also said that Samuel Koets had been kept in the basement, as his bedroom, for eight years. His family said he would break things if he stayed in another bedroom.

The basement had no windows or carpet, just concrete walls and a bare mattress smeared with feces. The door locked from the outside, police said.

On the day that Samuel died, his father put him on the school bus, went to work in Grand Rapids, then returned at 1 p.m. get him off the bus. The teen had only a half day. The mother, Michelle Koets, was sleeping because she worked third shift.

Before going back to work, the father said, he put Sam on the back deck. His son liked to spin in circles for hours.

“At the same point he acknowledges that Sam’s arms were wrapped around his body which keeps his arms restrained,” the detective said.

The father left the boy unattended. He told his wife he was leaving but in retrospect said he should have made sure she was awake when he left.

Around 3:20 p.m., an 18-year-old daughter came home and saw Sam in the pool. It was cold, with ice in the pool. She told police she went around the house yelling for her mother or anyone else but no one answered. She saw Sam’s arms wrapped up.

She then left.

She said that her brother often went outside, unattended, for hours.

“She also made statements that there have been multiple times in which she’s come home to find her brother is unsupervised outside spinning in circles while her mother is sleeping and her father is not around,” Bytwerk said.

He said the pool was in-ground with an 18-inch barrier around it but no fence.

Detectives downloaded the younger sister’s cellphone to obtain her conversation with her father when she saw her brother in the pool.

The father had sent a text asking if she’s home, and to “make sure freak is okay.” He tells her that her brother is supposed to be out back. He also asks if their mom is up yet.

At 4:11 p.m., the 13-year-old sends a photo of her brother in the pool. Her dad says to get him out, pull him out if she has to. At 4:13 p.m., she says he’s in the middle of the pool. The father says to yell at him to come back. She says she thinks he’s stuck and sends another photo, showing her brother in chest-deep water

A minute later, he tells her to “pull his testicles out,” Bytwerk said. The father then asks if his older daughter is home and to yell at her brother. The younger daughter says he’s going the other way.

He told her to get her mother.

At 4:27 p.m., the father asks if Sam is out of the pool. At 4:44 p.m., he asks his younger daughter what is going on, the detective said.

He did not say if there was a response to either question.

The younger daughter was removed from the home after the death. A disposition hearing is set next month in Ottawa County Family Court.

Koets began teaching at GRCC in 1996 as an adjunct professor. He was hired as a full-time faculty member in 2007.

This fall, he taught nine classes, including computer programming, computer science, database design and development and web-application programming, the school said in a statement.

“The Dean of the School of Workforce Development is reaching out to students today, letting them know the college is working to find faculty coverage for their classes, and it doesn’t want their education to be interrupted,” the statement said.

“We also are making students aware of resources available to them, including academic advising and counseling.”