Pontiac abused, starved children investigation: Neighbors claim they 'were loving family'

Pontiac child abuse case yields new developments

Police said the boys were starved and abused, with parents Arturo Bazan Perez and Dolce Bazan Castillo facing first-degree child abuse, and torture charges.

PONTIAC, Mich. (FOX 2) - New details have emerged regarding the young boys who were allegedly tortured and starved living inside of a Pontiac home.

The 9-year-old and 11-year-old were abused and underfed, existing off of sporadic dishes of rice, living inside of a room, where their parents allegedly painted the window, screwing them shut and had no contact with the outside world.

Police say the 9-year-old weighed around 30 pounds now both the boys’ parents are charged — Arturo Bazan Perez and Dolce Bazan Castillo. They are facing first-degree child abuse, and torture charges.

An older son is also facing charges as well.

Police found a one-year-old and four-year-old inside who they say we’re in healthy condition. They are now in child protective services hands.

Neighbors say this was extremely unexpected.

"They were a loving family," said James Johnson. "To me they spoiled the hell out of all their kids. They’d push them on bikes have barbecues for them I’ve never seen no signs of any kind of neglect or anything.

"The family never displayed anything like that. I never heard them raise their voices or nothing."

Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard of the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office spoke about the ghastly allegations.

"After the first horrific child abuse case we had with the kids that had been basically ignored and left alone for years, I called on the legislator to enact legislation from letting kids fall through the cracks," he said. "And thankfully we had Senator Jeremy Moss (D-Southfield) step up and introduce the bill.

"And that bill needs to be moved through because it specifically goes after situations like this."

The boys had been enrolled in Pontiac schools until September. That’s when the dad according to authorities had unenrolled them saying that he was going to be moving away now the district did confirm that that was the case.