Children lived alone in squalid home for years before discovery
Kelli Bryant, 35, admitted through a no-contest plea to child abuse on Thursday, with prosecutors recommending a six-year prison term, according to the Oakland County prosecutor’s office. Formal sentencing is scheduled for September.
The children — now 15, 13 and 12 — had lived on their own since 2020 or 2021, authorities said. Bryant, who was living elsewhere in Pontiac, provided only occasional food drops on the porch of the home. Police said the house was filled with trash and feces, and evidence specialists wore hazmat suits when they entered the property in February 2025.
Sheriff’s deputies discovered the conditions after the landlord reported that rent had not been paid for months. The father lost contact with the children while serving a prison sentence in an unrelated matter and was barred by Bryant from seeing them after his release, Sheriff Mike Bouchard said at the time of Bryant’s arrest.
Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald said the agreement was structured to prevent the children from having to testify.
“This plea will spare the children from testifying at trial and ensures Bryant remains incarcerated until they are all adults,” McDonald said. “I’m hopeful the children she victimized will continue to have the space and resources to heal from this abhorrent trauma.”
A message seeking comment from Bryant’s attorney was not immediately returned. Bryant remains in custody pending sentencing.