GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — Parents facing allegations of abuse and neglect against their children were not in court on Thursday as the county weighed what to do after the children's 15-year-old brother intentionally set their home on fire, killing their 10-year-old sibling, according to authorities.
At the protective custody hearing in Gwinnett County Juvenile Court, Judge Robert Waller ordered all three siblings in foster care to stay there. He also ordered medical exams for all four siblings after hearing about the horrific conditions they may have been forced to survive for years.
Only the grandmother, aunt and 15-year-old brother, now being charged with murder, were in the courtroom.
No one in the family testified, but a caseworker shared that after the fire, investigators had serious concerns that the five children living in the house that burned down in Loganville had not bathed in weeks or months, had been secluded and were malnourished.
"They also noticed buckets with toilet seats on them that were also being used, they also had concerns that the children did not know how to use toilets in the police department or toilet paper," said the caseworker.
Other concerns were raised about the fact that they hadn't been to school for years, with the parents claiming they were homeschooled. There was also concern about where the children were sleeping.
"Did they tell you she was sleeping on a board balanced on a bathtub?" asked an attorney. "Yes, ma'am," answered the caseworker.
The caseworker described that after the fire, they found a human bitemark on one child's inner thigh and 10 whip marks on another.
"(He had) multiple healing lacerations on his back bruising on his arms," the caseworker said in court. "He later disclosed they had come from mom whipping him with a belt."
She also shared that the children claimed they were not only kept locked in the house away from other people for years but had been locked away from each other, completely alone.
"He stated it was days, weeks and sometimes months," the caseworker said.
The grandmother leaving the hearing claimed she did get to see them.
Judge Waller granted supervised visitation for the three siblings who remain in foster care. The attorney for the 15-year-old sibling charged with setting the fire, said he will remain at the Regional Youth Detention Center in Gainesville and he does not want to see his parents.
No charges have been filed against the parents at this time, but The Gwinnett County Special Victim's Unit is investigating.
The family will be back in court for the final hearing on May 9.