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“You wouldn't do this to an animal let alone your child,”
Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard said.
Bouchard said the mother would occasionally leave food on the
porch at the Pontiac home but lived elsewhere and had little
contact with the children, a 15-year-old boy and two girls, ages
13 and 12. She's now in jail while prosecutors consider filing
charges.
Police found the children Friday after a landlord said the
mother was behind in paying rent and wondered if there was a
problem at the house. The scene was so extreme that
investigators wore hazmat suits.
“Trash was piled in some places three and four foot high.
Everything was covered with feces and trash," Bouchard said.
“The toilet had become non-functional. That's the kind of
situation these poor kids had been living in for years, not just
hours or days — for years.”
The boy indicated that he had left the house only two times,
“once because he wanted to feel the grass, which by itself is
heartbreaking,” the sheriff said.
Bouchard said they were “basically abandoned” and afraid to
leave.
He said the children might have been living alone for more than
four years. Bouchard said the mother and delivery businesses
would drop off food, though drivers apparently were not aware
there were children inside.
Their father lost contact with the kids while in prison and was
barred by their mother from seeing them when he was released,
the sheriff said.
After just a few days, the children are making great progress,
with medical exams, fresh clothes and help with hygiene,
Bouchard said.
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