Amanda Forrester / news@whmi.com

The Oakland County Sheriff updated the public on the children that were reportedly abandoned by their mother for years in their Pontiac home, saying the outpouring of support from the community has been overwhelming.

Sheriff Michael Bouchard said the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office has received the investigation materials collected and will be making a determination on potential charges once the information has been reviewed.

During the press conference, Bouchard answered some of the questions that many people have been asking. According to him, the father had been in jail for some time in the past, then tried to reconnect with the children and had filed legal paperwork that would set up a visitation schedule. The mother didn’t allow him to have contact with the children.

Family members, including those who are now caring for the children, were told they were being cared for by a babysitter.

In addition to the mother dropping off food, services such as Instacart and DoorDash would also drop off food for the children. It did not appear that anyone dropping off food was aware that the children were in there.

Bouchard said the children have started to get more comfortable since being removed from the home. One of the girls is reportedly “talking a lot,” which he said has been welcome progress for the kids. They’ve also been forensically interviewed about what their lives were like while in the house.

The boy, 15, said he had only ventured outside twice, once to check the mail and once “feel the grass,” Bouchard said.

“Just to hear that he came outside to touch the grass, it’s just soul-crushing on so many levels,” he said.

The mother allegedly left the children in the spring or summer of 2020. She dropped off some cleaning supplies, including Febreze and garbage bags, during 2020, and that was the last time the children received any personal hygiene items.

The children were getting a loaf of bread that was expected to last three to four days toward the end of the time they were in the home.

For those interested in donating, the family is no longer accepting clothes and shoes. The family and children are grateful for the donations they’ve received.

Bouchard said the Sheriff’s Office has set up a PayPal donation for the kids. 100% of the donations will go to their care, first for medical and mental health treatment, then for schooling further down the road. Since the fundraiser launched, he said $15,000 to $20,000 had been donated.

The money will help the children, but they still have a lot of healing to do to overcome what they went through, officials said. It is expected that there will be long-term mental health and educational support needed.

“It won’t make up for the three, four years that they were subjected to these conditions,” Bouchard said. “You see those videos of animals in terrible conditions on commercials, and it pulls at your heartstrings. Imagine, maybe by 10, living in what we showed you, and then play it out over years, not days or weeks. It’s hard to wrap your head around this one.”

The Sheriff’s Office is now seeking a law firm that would be able to set up a trust for the children, allowing the money to be put directly into it and dispersed as needed.

Bouchard is calling for an update to the way unenrollment from schools is handled, because the kids fell through the cracks partially due to the current way moving districts is done. Currently, there is no specific way schools handle students unenrolling from one and moving to another.

He said a school received a request for records for the children from another Pontiac school, but there was no verification that the kids moved to that school. When the children didn’t show up to the original school, they were just dropped off the enrollment list.

“No one knew they were nowhere,” Bouchard said.

The proposed legislation are a few amendments to the School Code, which would close those communication gaps. Before a student can be unenrolled from one school, they must obtain written confirmation from a new school.

At a minimum, the enrollment confirmation would need to include:

- The full name, date of birth and grade level of the student.

- The name and address of the receiving school.

- The date the student officially enrolled in the receiving school.

- A signature from an authorized official of the receiving school verifying the student’s enrollment status.

There would also be follow ups if the student didn’t start their new school.

Bouchard said the officers that were involved in the case have been meeting with mental health professionals and participating in peer-to-peer sessions. Several of the Sheriff’s Office’s support dogs have also been on hand, both to support the children and the officers.

When asked for a motive from the mom, he said they don’t at this point.

“There’s never going to be an answer any of us can understand or accept for the why. How do you? Anybody that’s a parent, looks at their kids and thinks ‘what a blessing, what a gift.’ To allow this to happen, I don’t think anyone, whether you have kids or not, will ever wrap your head around.”

The family is asking for privacy at this time for both them and the children.

The investigation is ongoing.

(photo credit: OSCO)