- The woman’s defense attorney asked the judge for a personal bond, maintaining her client is not a flight risk.
- A judge said she considered the mother an “acute risk and danger to the community”.
- The judge ordered that the mother cannot have any contact with her children, or any other minors.
A Pontiac mother who allegedly abandoned her three children and forced them to live in squalor alone for four years is being detained on a $250 million cash bond — with the judge expressing concerns that the mom may try to stop her kids from talking.
“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 Gross said at the mother’s arraignment Thursday.
“I do find her an acute risk and danger to the community,” Gross said in ordering the high bond, adding she also considers the mother to be a danger to any minor children, including her own three children involved in this case.
The judge also warned the mother, 34-year-old Kelli Bryant — to be mindful of what she says in jailhouse phone calls.
“Should the court find out that you are sending messages to engage in further fear tactics and intimidation of the children, your phone privileges will be removed,” Gross said.
Bryant, who appeared at her arraignment by video from the Oakland County Jail, is facing three counts of first-degree child abuse in what officials have described as a “horrifying” case of abuse and neglect.
Given that the mother is being represented by a court-appointed attorney because she can’t afford a lawyer, it’s unlikely Bryant will post that hefty bond. She has also portrayed herself in prior court filings as a struggling single mom who got no help from her children’s fathers.
Bryant is being represented by public defender Cecilia Quirindongo-Baunsoe, who acknowledged in court that this is a serious case, though she argued for a personal bond, maintaining her client is not a flight risk, and has ties to the community.
The judge wasn’t convinced and set the high bond, which comes with the following conditions should Bryant post it: She cannot have any contact with her children, or any other minors, via phone calls or text messages through her family members or friends. She also is prohibited from having drugs, alcohol, or possessing a weapon, and would have to wear a GPS tether.
Bryant’s arraignment comes one day after Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald announced the felony child abuse and neglect charges, which could land the embattled mother in prison for life if convicted.
Bryant was arrested on Friday after sheriff’s deputies found three of her children living in squalor in a condominium on Lydia Lane: There was no working toilet. Feces covered several rooms. Two children slept on pizza boxes.
According to prosecutor and sheriff’s office, the 15-year-old boy was the only one who left the home in four years, and it was only a handful of times: To check the mail, and once to touch the grass. His younger sisters, ages 12 and 13, were too afraid to ever leave — as was the boy — because their mother had instructed them to never answer the door or go outside, authorities said. And the children feared what would happen to them if they went outside, said McDonald.
The children were discovered on Friday after the landlord called the sheriff’s office and said he had not communicated with the mother since December, nor had he received rent since October, and he was worried something happened. So the landlord accompanied sheriff’s deputies to the home on Lydia Lane and discovered the horror inside: The children’s hair was matted. Their clothes and bodies covered in feces. And their toenails were so long they struggled to walk.
This story was updated because an earlier version included an inaccuracy.
Tresa Baldas:[email protected]
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