Kelli Bryant allegedly called her children's caregiver ten times from the county jail over a period of five days to talk to her children.

Just as a judge feared, the Pontiac mother accused of abandoning her children in a house of squalor for years called the kids' caregiver from jail, and had other inmates call the caretaker on her behalf,

The Oakland County Prosecutor's Office is asking for phone privileges to be revoked against the mother accused of abandoning her children for years at a home in Pontiac.

Prosecutor says while three children lived alone in squalor in Pontiac, their mom, Kelli Bryant, was pocketing their government benefits.

Kelli Bryant, 34, is now charged with three counts of welfare fraud, Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald announced Tuesday. Bryant was charged last month with three counts of first-degree child abuse. If convicted, she faces up to life in prison.