Parents from suburban Philadelphia sentenced to prison after forcing 7 children to live in ‘filthy conditions’

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — A Bucks County mother and father have been sentenced to up to 16 years in prison after forcing their seven children to “live in filthy conditions in a dilapidated trailer,” the district attorney’s office said.

Shane Robertson, 48, and Crystal Robertson, 38, were sentenced Tuesday after pleading guilty earlier this year to seven counts of child endangerment and six counts of animal neglect.

“It is appalling that you and your seven children have to live in these conditions,” said Judge Charissa J. Liller. “You treated your animals better than your children. You kept them in cages like animals, but you didn't treat them as well.”

The couple was sentenced to 8 to 16 years in prison and must undergo psychiatric evaluation and treatment, as well as drug and alcohol therapy, the prosecutor said. The judge also ordered that they have no contact with their children until they turn 18, and that they can only do so with the approval of a court-appointed therapist.

Officials presented evidence at the hearing that the children were living in “nightmarish” conditions in a trailer at the Green Top Mobile Home Park on Roseann Lane in West Rockhill Township. Several animals living there were better cared for, according to the prosecutor. The evidence also included TikTok videos showing Crystal Robertson feeding her lizard pieces of salmon and brushing its teeth, the prosecutor said.

The prosecutor said numerous animals lived in the trailer, including a lizard, two dogs, two turtles, two rabbits, snakes, toads and several rats.

The children are in the care of the Bucks County Child and Youth Social Services and the animals have been turned over to the Bucks County SPCA, the prosecutor said.

The situation of the children was discovered in 2023 when police responded to a neighbor's call that two of the children were taking items from an abandoned trailer. Officers found a trailer “in obvious poor condition and in disarray,” the prosecutor said. The trailer was dirty, cluttered and dilapidated, and animal feces could be seen on clothing and the floor, police said at the time. The refrigerator was locked, and some of the children were malnourished and required significant medical attention, police said.