PONTIAC, Mich. (WXYZ) — The Pontiac mom charged with abandoning her kids for years has had her communication privileges revoked for a week, a judge ruled.
Kelli Bryant was in court Tuesday afternoon over a motion seeking to remove her communication privileges after she allegedly violated a no-contact order several times.
Watch the court hearing in the video player below:
She is under court order to have no contact with her children or their caregiver, but according to the Oakland County 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,” Oakland County Prosecutor Karen 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.”
Bryant has temporarily been prohibited from using phone, tablet and video communication devices in jail.
"The violation is a flagrant one. I am going to temporarily suspend her jail communication privileges for a period of one week because I want to make sure she understands the court orders are exactly that. They are not suggestions. They are not hopes that you will comply. But I expect strict compliance with the no-contact provision. I am going to indicate there will be a one week suspension of any jail communication," Pontiac District Court Judge Cynthia Walker said during Tuesday's hearing.
Walker said an emergency hearing will be scheduled within 24 hours for any other violations.
"If in communication with the jail, there can be follow-up to make sure there are no other violations. If there is another violation, the court will schedule an emergency hearing within 24 hours of receiving notice of any violation," Walker said.
McDonald released another statement after the hearing.
“I am grateful for Judge Walker’s decision to protect the juvenile victims in this case and suspend Kelli Bryant’s communications privileges for one week. Ms. Bryant’s multiple contacts with her children’s caregiver put them at risk and violated the court order. The continued safety and wellbeing of the three children remain our primary concern as we move forward prosecuting this case,” McDonald said.
7 News Detroit also spoke with Bryant's ex-boyfriend Tyquan Vining. They were dating in the months leading up to the arrest. He said she had told him the kids were with their dad.
Listen: Extended interview with Tyquan Vining
"It's only so much you can say, because it's still, you know, like, mind-boggling, because it was ... somebody, you know, if you were dating, something like that came up, it'd still be like, damn, because you never see no signs," said Vining.
Vining said she told him she didn't want any more kids.
"She told me she was done having kids, she had four already, she was good ... she said she didn't like babies no more. She was over that," he said.
Bryant added, "It's nobody's fault really, but hers. Nobody else is to be blamed here. I don't care what nobody said. I don't care if nobody never asked about them kids. That was her fault for leaving them kids in their house."
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.
Related Video: Watch Oakland County prosecutor announce charges in this case
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.
Press conference: Sheriff Michael Bouchard updates abandoned children case
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."
