Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald has filed a motion seeking to revoke communications privileges for the Pontiac mom charged with abandoning her kids for years.
Kelli Bryant is under court order to have no contact with her children or their caregiver, but according to the prosecutor's office, records show Bryant called the children's caregiver 10 times between March 8 and March 12. It's alleged that she discussed her children and her criminal case.
Prosecutors also say Bryant had other inmates call the caregiver on her behalf.
“Kelli Bryant has clearly and repeatedly violated the judge’s order not to contact the victims or their caregiver,” said 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.”
If the motion is granted, Bryant would be prohibited from using the phone, tablet and video communication devices in jail.
Bryant is charged with three counts of first-degree child abuse in the Pontiac abandonment case. During her arraignment, the judge warned her that jail phone calls are recorded.
Officers conducting a recent welfare check on the home in search of the mother found the children living alone. Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said the landlord notified them because he hadn't heard from her since December and hadn't received rent since October.
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First responders said that 4-foot piles of garbage were found in some rooms. Mold and human excrement were found throughout the house. Bouchard said the toilet had stopped working, and the bathtub was filled with feces.
He called the case "very horrific."
Law enforcement said that the children had not attended school since their abandonment, which is believed to have been sometime around 2020-2021, passing the time watching television or playing games. It was reported that the girls had not been outside the home for several years, with the boy sleeping on a mattress on the floor while the girls slept on pizza boxes.
The prosecutor said the children were hiding when police arrived and were afraid to speak to them.
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The children were taken to the hospital for evaluation, reportedly with soiled clothes, matted hair and toenails so long that it was difficult to walk.
"We say a lot ‘this is the worst I’ve ever seen' and I’ve stopped saying that, because every time I say that, I see something worse," McDonald said.
Bouchard said the children are making great strides since beginning to receive care. They have been forensically interviewed by professionals at CARE House of Oakland County. They were also seen once at McLaren Oakland Hospital. Bouchard said they will also receive a much more in-depth physical and mental health checkup in the near future.
Neighbors told police they did see a woman drop off stuff at the home from time to time, but they never saw the kids leave the house.
Bouchard said that the boy only left the house a few times; he reportedly only did so twice, once to just "touch the grass" and then to go out to get the mail.
Bouchard called the revelation the boy just wanted to feel the grass "by itself, heartbreaking."
"You wouldn't do this to an animal, let alone your child," Bouchard said. "So, just to hear that he came outside to touch the grass is just crushing, soul-crushing on so many levels."
