PONTIAC, Mich. — A Michigan woman accused of leaving three children alone for years in a slum home pleaded no contest to child abuse Thursday in a deal that carries a six-year prison sentence, authorities said.

Conditions at the Pontiac home were so offensive that police evidence specialists wore protective suits when the children were discovered in February 2025.

The children, ages 15, 13 and 12, had been living alone since 2020 or 2021, with occasional food spills on the porch and among trash and feces, police said. Sheriff’s deputies walked in when a homeowner said he hadn’t been paid in months.

Kelli Bryant, 35, who lived in another part of Pontiac, pleaded no contest to abuse and will return to court in September for sentencing. A message from his attorney seeking comment was not immediately returned.

“This plea will prevent children from testifying at trial and ensures that Bryant remains incarcerated until they are all adults,” said Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald. “I am hopeful that the children she victimized continue to have the space and resources to recover from this abhorrent trauma.”

The father lost contact with the children while in jail on an unrelated matter and their mother forbade him from seeing them when he was released, Sheriff Mike Bouchard said when Bryant was arrested.