A Pontiac mother who left her preteen and teenage children abandoned in their home for several years was arrested Friday.
According to a release from the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office, the 34-year-old woman, whose identity was not released, left her kids on the 600 block of Lydia Lane to live in “absolute squalor.” They were surviving on weekly drop-offs of prepared food.
The children were a 15-year-old boy, a 12-year-old girl and a 13-year-old girl.
The Pontiac mother is currently in Oakland County Jail and Sheriff Michael Bouchard said in the release that the conditions the children “were forced to survive were unconscionable.“Throughout my extensive career in this field, I have never encountered a scenario as dire and prolonged as this one, involving abandonment, neglect, and abuse of the highest order,” Bouchard said in the release.
“This situation would be deemed deplorable and intolerable for an animal, and it is utterly unacceptable for three children. They have been deprived of any interaction with their mother and have not received an education for years. The far-reaching consequences of this abuse must be acknowledged. We look forward to presenting this case to the prosecutor and ensuring that this mother faces the consequences of her actions.”
The three children have been placed in custody of a relative by Child Protective Services.
Deputies were called by the landlord of the home Friday afternoon to perform a welfare check on the occupants of the home, police said. The landlord said he had not heard from the mother since December, rent wasn’t paid since October and he was concerned about the family’s wellbeing.
Pictures of the home show large amounts of debris in various parts of the home. Police described the scene as “in deplorable shape,” with garbage piled as high as 4 feet in some rooms, mold and human waste found throughout the house. The toilet was overflowing and feces were found in the bathtub.
The 15-year-old boy said himself and his sisters had been living alone in the home since 2020 or 2021 and they survived on the prepared food their mother or a stranger would leave on the front porch each week. The mother did not leave toilet paper or personal hygiene items. The mother had contact with the boy, but it appeared she had not seen the girls in years, police said.
The scene was processed by an evidence technician wearing a HAZMAT suit.
The children had not attended school since their abandonment and passed time watching television or playing games. It appeared the girls had not been outside the home for several years. The boy slept on a mattress on the floor while the girls slept on pizza boxes, police said.
Neighbors told deputies they were unaware the children lived in the home and never saw them outside. Neighbors said they saw the mother drop things off at the home each month, police said.
The children were taken to the hospital for evaluation. They were wearing soiled clothing, their hair was matted, and their toenails were several inches long, making it difficult to walk. Police said the children were unfamiliar with how to use personal hygiene items or to flush a toilet.
The mother was found at another location and arrested without incident. The 34-year-old said the father of the children was not involved in their lives, according to the release.
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