Upper Bucks County couple headed to trial for abuse, neglect of children, animals

An Upper Bucks County couple will go to trial over claims they abused and neglected their seven children, most malnourished and one found with maggots in her hair.

Shane and Crystal Robertson, of the Green Top mobile home park in West Rockhill, were held Oct. 2 on seven felonies each of abuse and neglect. They also face prosecution for neglect of the family’s menagerie of pets, which included a Tegu lizard, turtles, rabbits, dogs, a cat and a dozen rats. The SPCA removed most of the animals.

Two cases against the couple, including an attempted suffocation of one child and physical abuse of others were dismissed by District Court Judge Gary Gambardella. That's because one of the Robertson's children, in a video interview with a county caseworker, was not specific on where some of the abuse happened. The family regularly moved, at one time living in Delaware. The locations could not be determined to be within the legal jurisdiction of the Bucks County District Attorney’s office.

After the hearing, a reporter asked Crystal Robertson, 38, for comment on the charges.

“They’ve been dismissed,” she said, as constables put her in a minivan to be returned to prison. Shane Robertson, 48, who has “Crystal” tattooed on his neck in green script, kept his head down and said nothing as he was loaded into the vehicle with his wife.

The children, six girls and one boy, are ages 5 to 16. None have ever been to school. Crystal Robertson told investigators they homeschooled.

Their children’s’ life in Bucks County featured hunger, almost no medical care, dirty clothing and filthy living conditions, investigators claim.

Two of the children had COVID, others needed dental care, with one child requiring six teeth to be pulled and treatment for a “dangerous abscess,” according to testimony. The child with maggots in her hair had her hair shaved because it posed a “dire” threat to health, according to a court document.

Police were called to the Robertson’s trailer home at 655 Roseann Lane on April 23, after a neighbor reported kids taking items from an abandoned trailer.

Officer Nick Windfelder, of the Pennridge Regional Police Department, testified that he found the Robertson’s two oldest children outside, one barefoot the other wearing men’s work boots too big for her feet. One of the children said she was retrieving a blanket from an abandoned trailer because she feared her pet rats were cold, and she wanted to keep them warm.

Inside, officers found the home in disarray and wreaking of urine and feces. The refrigerator door was secured with a bicycle lock to keep the children from eating food. Windfelder said when the parents arrived home, Robertson described her kids as “garbage disposals with legs.” Inside the fridge had few items, but included alcohol, old hot dog buns and severed chicken claws. Windfelder said the claws were for the pet lizard.

The kids were emaciated, unwashed, in soiled clothing, and one “huddled in a fetal position,” suffering from apparent flu symptoms.

Caseworkers from county Children and Youth testified they interviewed the children. Some had speech impediments.

“They are very difficult to understand,” one said.

Some of the kids didn’t know how old they were, and could only guess their birthdays. They described episodes of abuse, both physical and emotional. When an older child told her parents she was having thoughts of suicide, she was reportedly told to “go behind the shed and kill yourself.”

The kids described belt beatings and, in one case, a girl with asthma described her father pressing a steel-toed boot on her chest.

The Robertsons next court appearance will be at their arraignment, set for Nov. 12.

After testimony, Deputy DA Brittney Kern, who is prosecuting the Robertsons, said the case is heartbreaking. She spoke with each child.

"They are sweet kids," she said.

The children live with extended family. Their health has recovered and they have put on weight.

“They are thriving,” she said.JD Mullane can be reached at 215-949-5745 or at jmullane@couriertimes.com.

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Bucks couple headed to trial for abuse, neglect of their 7 children