Oakland County prosecutors say three children isolated in a Pontiac condominium for nearly five years lived without adequate food, a working bathroom or adult supervision.
The three children, a 15-year-old boy and two girls, ages 13 and 12, were discovered Feb. 14 in a condominium on Lydia Lane in the Stonegate Pointe condominium complex. Their mother, Kelli Bryant, 34, allegedly moved out as far back as spring 2020.
Mental health experts say the children, now in the care of an unnamed family member, will need years of support but can recover.
Prosecutors say the prepared food that their mother dropped off or had delivered, usually once a week, wasn’t always enough. The children didn’t have toilet paper, personal hygiene items or cleaning supplies.
They allegedly had no contact with their mother or anyone else and hadn’t been to school for almost five years.
Oakland County Sheriff’s deputies discovered the two girls hiding in a bathroom and the boy hiding elsewhere in the condo. Trash and feces were piled several feet high in some rooms. The children were covered in feces.
And, prosecutors allege, their mother told them not to leave the home or answer the door. The children allegedly feared what their mom would do if they disobeyed her directions.
How do you begin to heal children who have so many psychological, emotional, social and academic needs?
“This is not going to be an easy fix. This will be a lifelong process. They will be in therapy for the rest of their lives,” said Rebecca Vannest, assistant professor in the Department of Counseling at Oakland University, who specializes in child and adolescent mental health, school counseling and play therapy.
That doesn’t mean they have no hope of recovery.
“Kids are amazingly able to respond appropriately (to therapy and other assistance),” Vannest said. “They will really blossom but we need to be patient with them.”
That is particularly true for children who feel safe and their basic needs are met after they are out of the abusive situation, said Tricia Schuster, vice president of programs at CARE House of Oakland County, a Pontiac-based children’s advocacy center.
“I always tell them, ‘This is what happened to you. This is not who you are,’” she said.
Oakland County law enforcement agencies refer abuse and neglect cases to CARE House, where the children can be interviewed in a kid-friendly space, with access to stuffed animals and toys.
Children in situations similar to the Pontiac case can go into “survival mode” when their basic needs aren’t met and they don’t feel safe, which can stunt their usual emotional, social or cognitive development, Schuster said.
“Anybody who does not feel safe is not going to be able to function,” Schuster said. “They need to feel like someone is listening to them.”
Once those needs are addressed, CARE House and other child advocacy experts usually launch a series of assessments, often starting with a physical exam.
The results of those assessments help advocates plan a team effort to address all of a child abuse victim’s needs. In addition to mental health counseling, the approach could include physical or occupational therapy or other resources.
Bryant is held in the Oakland County Jail and faces three counts of first-degree child abuse and welfare fraud. If convicted of the child abuse charges, she could receive life in prison.
Her attorney, Cecilia Quirindongo-Baunsoe, could not be reached for comment.
HOW DID THEY GO UNDISCOVERED?
Police and prosecutors say Bryant’s children were as young as 10,8 and 7 when she moved out.
Last month, the landlord asked the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office to check on the condo. Bryant had not communicated with the landlord or paid the rent in several months.
Law enforcement experts, neighbors and others have wondered how the children went undetected for so long.
There are a number of reasons why child abuse and neglect can go unreported, according to Vannest and Schuster.
In this case, the children attended Pontiac public schools but the district received a request for records from a Pontiac charter school. The Pontiac district sent the requested information, but the children never attended the charter school and stopped attending the public schools. Officials at both schools thought the children were attending the other.
More adequate staffing could have meant the two schools had better resources to follow up when the kids didn’t show up, Vannest said.
Vannest, who worked as a school counselor for 10 years, said she spent two to three days per week dealing with possible abuse or neglect cases. In total, she served as many as 850 students at a time.
The American School Counselor Association ranks Michigan 49th among the 50 states for its counselor-to-student ratio. In 2023-24, Michigan had 2,488 counselors serving 1.42 million students, the association said. That’s a ratio of 573 students to one counselor.
Schuster said people who could have spoken up in abuse and neglect cases are often reluctant to get involved.
“If you see something, say something,” she said. “We have a natural inclination to want to stay out of it. They think, ‘What if I’m wrong? It’s none of my business.’ Or they think, ‘How can that person be a sexual predator? They’re always in church.’”
Although the Pontiac case is horrific, there are thousands that are almost as bad but don’t draw the headlines, Vannest said.
“I think people would be shocked. I think it would be stomach churning for the public to know,” she said. “There are many, many children dealing with abuse.”
If you suspect child abuse or neglect, contact your local police department or the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services at 855-444-3911. That number, which is monitored 24/7 can also be used to report abuse against adults.
To learn more about child abuse, visit www.carehouse.org.
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