Four Brothers Under 14 Years Old Living in Squalor, Unable to Communicate Taken by State

Four brothers 14 years old and younger were taken from their mother over the weekend into state custody after they were found living in horrid conditions and not receiving an education.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported the boys, age 14, 13, 12 and 8, living in Austell, Ga., couldn't even communicate well enough with investigators when Cobb County police arrested their mother and other occupants of the home Saturday.

Four brothers were taken into state custody when they were found in filthy conditions, needing medical care and not receiving and education. (Image source: WSB-TV)

In addition to having communication difficulties from not attending school, the police noted that one of the boys required surgery on his foot and all of them had rotten teeth. The home was infested with insects, including cockroaches and lice.

Image source: WSB-TV

Watch WSB-TV's report with footage around the home:

"You rarely ever saw the kids, rarely ever," neighbor Charles Baliff told WSB. "I wondered sometimes because you never saw them go to school, but a lot of people home school now, so."

Jennifer Ruth Hollis, the boys' 52-year-old mother, Robert Lee Hollis, the boys' 37-year-old uncle, and Tony Darren Elmore, a 53-year-old unrelated to the children but listed as a registered sex offender, were arrested under child cruelty charges, according to the affidavit obtained by the Journal-Constitution.

Jennifer Hollis, the boys mother, was arrested over the weekend along with two other men living in the home. All three adults were charged with child cruelty. (Image source: Cobb County Police Department via WSB-TV)

The three adults were held through Monday on $100,000 bond each.

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