PA - Crystal and Shane Robertson charged with keeping 7 uneducated children in filthy conditions, Sellersville, May 26, 2023

[AzPistonsGirl]

Bucks County parents of 7 charged. Sick kids living in filth, with rats, no food, police say

Pennridge Regional Police were called to a Sellersville mobile home park for a theft report. The found 7 children living in inhabitable conditions.

www.phillyburbs.com

Two of the children tested positive for COVID-19, two had low kidney function and three had fevers and were diagnosed with acute viral syndrome. They were placed in foster care, according to the report. It was later discovered that all but one were clinically malnourished. One of the girls had maggots in her hair and another had ringworm, the report says.

One bedroom, the report says, had one filthy mattress covered with a dirty blanket and feces on it. Rats were also kept in cages in the room.

According to the report, police said they found no food in the house except for the animals, which included two dogs, two turtles, two rabbits, snakes and toads.

Inside the mouth of the 6-year-old boy, doctors found 13 visible cavities, five teeth requiring immediate extraction, another six teeth that required crowns and a “dangerous” abscess needing immediate treatment.

His 8-year-old sister, authorities say, needed five teeth pulled and five others were fitted with crowns.

Maggots were living in their 12-year-old sister’s hair. The youngest sibling, just 4 years old, had ringworm. All but one of the seven children was also clinically malnourished, according to court documents.


None of the siblings, the oldest of which was 16, had ever attended school. All were found living in a three-bedroom mobile home in Sellersville with destroyed and disintegrating walls and floors, bugs and a locked refrigerator, according to authorities.

 

[iamshadow21]

Bucks County parents of 7 charged. Sick kids living in filth, with rats, no food, police say

Pennridge Regional Police were called to a Sellersville mobile home park for a theft report. The found 7 children living in inhabitable conditions.

www.phillyburbs.com

Two of the children tested positive for COVID-19, two had low kidney function and three had fevers and were diagnosed with acute viral syndrome. They were placed in foster care, according to the report. It was later discovered that all but one were clinically malnourished. One of the girls had maggots in her hair and another had ringworm, the report says.

One bedroom, the report says, had one filthy mattress covered with a dirty blanket and feces on it. Rats were also kept in cages in the room.

According to the report, police said they found no food in the house except for the animals, which included two dogs, two turtles, two rabbits, snakes and toads.

Inside the mouth of the 6-year-old boy, doctors found 13 visible cavities, five teeth requiring immediate extraction, another six teeth that required crowns and a “dangerous” abscess needing immediate treatment.

His 8-year-old sister, authorities say, needed five teeth pulled and five others were fitted with crowns.

Maggots were living in their 12-year-old sister’s hair. The youngest sibling, just 4 years old, had ringworm. All but one of the seven children was also clinically malnourished, according to court documents.


None of the siblings, the oldest of which was 16, had ever attended school. All were found living in a three-bedroom mobile home in Sellersville with destroyed and disintegrating walls and floors, bugs and a locked refrigerator, according to authorities.

The header says eight, the article says seven? Do we have another source that says eight children?

 

[AzPistonsGirl]

The header says eight, the article says seven? Do we have another source that says eight children?

I have alerted MODs to edit the title - I just mis-typed

 

[iamshadow21]

I have alerted MODs to edit the title - I just mis-typed

Okay, cool. I wasn't sure if you had mistyped or if there was something I was missing in the article! I know those suckers sometimes change on you, get edited whenever the news folks get new information or realise they have to make a correction.

MOO

 

[Lusitana]

Were the parents feral or what? This is not normal human behavior. How can someone live like that? Those poor kids. Will the oldest ever be able to recover and live a normal life?

 

[iamshadow21]

Were the parents feral or what? This is not normal human behavior. How can someone live like that? Those poor kids. Will the oldest ever be able to recover and live a normal life?

The conditions in the homes the Turpins lived in were comparable, from what I've read. Those abusers were found competent. No drugs or mental health conditions that could conceivably have led to such horrendous squalor.

MOO

 

[Lusitana]

The conditions in the homes the Turpins lived in were comparable, from what I've read. Those abusers were found competent. No drugs or mental health conditions that could conceivably have led to such horrendous squalor.

MOO

I think this one is even worse. One of the poor kids had maggots in her hair. That's so extreme and awful.

 

[realanastasia]

Last name is Robertson, will contact a mod to correct title.

Don’t think it’s necessary to compare this to the Turpins in an effort to assess which scenario is worse—both sets of siblings have suffered mental and physical traumas from which they may never be able to fully recover. I only hope the adults in this case spend the rest of their lives in prison suffering all of the dehumanizing and degrading treatment that usually entails—maybe then they might gain a modicum of empathy for their victims.

 

[Pgfc124578]

(Quoted post removed)

Has anyone heard anything from the fiancé about events the days prior to the disappearance.
<modsnip - contains info from a deleted post>

 

[Ebon]

Mom in extreme abuse case called her 7 uneducated kids 'garbage disposals with legs': Affidavit

What police allegedly discovered at the couple's Pennsylvania home is the stuff of nightmares.

lawandcrime.com

Married parents in Pennsylvania face numerous felony child endangerment charges after cops showed up at their home in April in response to concerns that two children were spotted entering an abandoned trailer and taking items. What police allegedly discovered afterwards at that trailer park home in Sellersville is the stuff of nightmares.

After the Pennridge Regional Police Department responded to the scene, they said that their first move was ensuring the seven children found living in filthy conditions surrounded by animals were placed in protective custody.

“April 23rd 2023 at approximately 130 pm officers responded to the 800 block of Roseann Lane for a report of two juveniles entering an abandon trailer,” the Pennridge Regional Police Department said. “Upon further investigation it was determined that the children resided in a home nearby. Bucks County Children and Youth responded to address concerns of the officers on scene, resulting in seven children being taken into protective custody.”

Crystal Roberston, 37, and Shane Robertson, 47, have since been accused of keeping their seven children in isolation and filth at their Green Top Trailer Park home — without formally educating any of the victims.

 

[Allynator]

Every time I see a story like this, I just think of all the other babies out there right now in the same predicament.

 

[NervousNellie]

And here we go again... As @Allynator says, we are only hearing about the ones that are caught.

 

[mickey2942]

"Homeschooling" again. How many threads at WS have this scenario?!

I am all about parents right to Homeschool their children. But, every year, a baseline test, at the school, if they are not at grade level, back to school. This would help so many children.

 

[NervousNellie]

But their fR3EduMs!

 

[Mistree]

Every time I see a story like this, I just think of all the other babies out there right now in the same predicament.

Me too; and wondering when or even if they will be rescued!

 

[Laughing]

I really need to stop clicking on these titles....

I thought these would be little kids!

16, 14, 13, 10, 8, 6, 4?

Bad teeth, uncorrected vision problems, speech impediments.

SMH what is wrong with people???

jmho of course

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Authorities learned about the alleged neglect after they responded a theft report on April 23 and found the couple's daughter in the front yard of a mobile home next door to where the theft was reported.

The girl would later tell police she only took a blanket to keep her pet rats warm because her parents didn’t have much money left.

According to police, all but one of the children showed signs of serious malnutrition and other medical issues including rotting teeth, low kidney function, COVID-19, acute viral syndrome, poor eyesight, ringworm, matted and maggot- infested hair and speech impediments. ​

None of them have attended formal school, authorities said, and some did not know their birth dates and had to be told how old they were.

The children said they were told it was school when their mother passed around a smartphone to each child, a source with knowledge of the case said.

The only “notable” food in the house was for the animals, and the refrigerator door was secured with a bicycle lock because their mother told police that the children were “stealing” food.

The family moved into the mobile home, with its white with faded yellow shutters and a small front porch, about 18 months ago. The home sits on a wooded lot in Green Top, a quiet mobile home community with six narrow streets.

The allegations shocked veteran experts in child abuse who wondered if no one in the community noticed anything out of the ordinary with the family, or, more likely, they didn’t want to get involved.

“This feels like one of those moments that leaves me speechless and head scratching,” said Cathleen Palm, founder and director of the Center for Children’s Justice in Berks County. “Any reasonable person is going to say how could children − not one or two, and not an infant or nonverbal or disabled child, but many and of such different ages be so far off the radar.”

Locked fridge left 7 kids scavenging for food, cops say; parents arrested on neglect charges

A Pennsylvania couple was arrested after cops said their children showed signs of major malnutrition, rotting teeth, poor eyesight and ringworm.

www.usatoday.com

 

[Howl]

The only “notable” food in the house was for the animals, and the refrigerator door was secured with a bicycle lock because their mother told police that the children were “stealing” food.

Incandescent rage. Why, WHY did this woman continue having children?

 

[Laughing]

The only “notable” food in the house was for the animals, and the refrigerator door was secured with a bicycle lock because their mother told police that the children were “stealing” food.

Incandescent rage. Why, WHY did this woman continue having children?

Apparently some people seem to think using birth control is too much of a burden?

(Worked well at the Laughing homestead if that's not TMI.)

jmho ymmv lrr

 

[Trebor5591]

Were the parents feral or what? This is not normal human behavior. How can someone live like that? Those poor kids. Will the oldest ever be able to recover and live a normal life?

Parents are likely drug addicts, would be my guess. Those poor children. Recover and live a normal life? Not likely, in my opinion, but possible. The human spirit is resilient, IMO.