Oakland Co. Mom Who Left Kids In Dirty Home Calls Their Caregiver 10 Times From Jail: Cops

PONTIAC, MI — A mother who abandoned her kids inside a garbage-filled home years ago is in more trouble.

Prosecutors said Kelli Bryant had called the children's caregiver 10 times from jail to discuss her kids and her criminal case, violating a judge's order not to contact her children or their caregiver. The calls were made between March 8 and 12, according to prosecutors.

Now, Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald wants a judge to revoke Bryant's jailhouse communication privileges.

If the judge agrees, Bryant would be prohibited from using a telephone, tablet and video communication devices while in jail.

"Kelli Bryant has clearly and repeatedly violated the judge's order not to contact the victims or their caregiver," McDonald said. "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, 34, of Pontiac, was charged with three counts of child abuse after prosecutors said she abandoned her kids. She was later charged with three counts of welfare fraud after officials said a review showed she fraudulently received more than $29,000 in aid from Michigan.

She was placed in the Oakland County Jail with a bond initially set at $250 million, but a judge later reduced it to $50,000. Her next court date is scheduled for April 15.

If convicted on the child abuse charge, she faces up to life in prison, and up to four years for each welfare fraud charge.

Prosecutors said Bryant lived in a home in the 600 block of Lydia Lane in Pontiac with her four kids before leaving sometime during the summer of 2020. She left three of them (a 15-year-old boy and 12- and 13-year-old girls) at the home, while a fourth child went to live with their father, prosecutors said.

The home's landlord had contacted the sheriff’s office because the rent had not been paid since October, and he had not spoken to Bryant since December and was concerned something may have happened, officials said.

Last month, officers found the children living inside the home in "absolute squalor" with garbage piled as high as 4 feet in some rooms, prosecutors said.

After the arrest of their mother, the children were taken to a nearby hospital for evaluation and placed in the custody of a relative by Child Protective Services, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said the children appeared to be doing OK, despite what they experienced.

Related:

• How Abandoned Oakland County Kids Went Unnoticed For Years: Officials
• Oakland Co. Mom Took In $29K In Aid For Kids She Abandoned In Garbage-Filled Home: Cops