Children found abandoned in filthy Michigan home, officials respond
Children, ages 15, 13 and 12, were found inside a Pontiac, MI home full of feces and trash. According to the sheriff’s office, their mother had left them alone in the home around four years ago, and would return to drop food off to them.
Fox – 2 Detroit
Just as a judge feared, the Pontiac mother accused of abandoning her children in a house of squalor for years called the kids’ caregiver from jail, and had other inmates call the caretaker on her behalf, according to the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office.
As a result, Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald has asked a judge to revoke 34-year-old Kelli Bryant ‘s communication privileges, alleging she violated a court order that mandated she have no contact with her children or their caregiver. McDonald said she wants Bryant prohibited from using telephone, tablet and video communication devices while in jail.
According to the prosecutor’s office, jail records show that Bryant called the children’s caregiver 10 times between March 8 and March 12 to discuss her kids and her criminal case. She also had other inmates do the same on her behalf, the prosecution said.
This is precisely what a judge expressed concern about when she set Bryant’s bond at $250 million last month, though it has since been reduced to $50,000 by another judge.
“I’m concerned that she still may have contact with a family member from the jail with instructions to continue to engage in fear tactics, to forbid the children from cooperating with authorities in their continued investigation. … For that reason alone, I’m giving her a $250 million bond … cash only,” 50th District Court Judge Ronda Fowlkes Gross said at the mother’s arraignment last month.
The judge who lowered Bryant’s bond — 50th District Judge Cynthia Thomas — also expressed concern that Bryant may try to intimidate her children to stop them from cooperating with authorities. So she set conditions on her bond, should Bryant get out, including: She may not have any contact with any child under 18; no contact with her children, and no personal contact, phone calls, or text messages with anyone who is caring for her children.
The judge also issued Bryant a warning: “Ms. Bryant, be aware that if you violate any condition of release, you would be subject to arrest without a warrant and may have your bond forfeited, revoked, new conditions imposed, in addition to any other penalties if you are found in contempt of court.”
Bryant’s lawyer was not readily available for comment Monday.
“Kelli Bryant has clearly and repeatedly violated the judge’s order not to contact the victims or their caregiver,” McDonald said in a statement. “That order is in place for an important reason — to protect the victims. The decision to ask that an inmate’s communications be restricted isn’t made lightly, but Bryant was repeatedly disobeying court orders and, by doing so, further endangering the victims.”
Bryant is jailed on first-degree child abuse and welfare fraud charges following the Feb. 14 discovery of her three children — ages 12, 13, and 15 — living alone in a house of horrors: The toilet didn’t work. Feces were in the tub and throughout the house. Garbage as high as four feet filled some rooms. Two children slept on pizza boxes.
The children were rescued on Valentine’s Day after the landlord called the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office for a welfare check, telling deputies that he hadn’t received rent since October, or heard from the children’s mother since December. The deputies and landlord together went to the townhouse on Lydia Lane and discovered the children living in squalor.
According to authorities, their bodies and clothing were covered in feces. Their toe nails were so long they struggled to walk. And they had difficulty flushing the toilet when taken to the hospital because they hadn’t done so in so long.
After rescuing the children, the deputies called the mother, who took a Lyft to the sheriff’s office and turned herself in, according to courtroom testimony.
The children are now living with a relative.
According to McDonald and the sheriff’s office, the children lived off food that was dropped off at the house about once a week by their mother, or a food delivery service company. The mother never had any contact with the children, authorities said, and allegedly told them to never leave the house.
The children did as they were told, they said. The two youngest, both girls, never left the house in four years. Their brother went outside a couple of times: to check the mail and touch the grass.
Contact Tresa Baldas: [email protected]
发表回复