JERSEYVILLE, IL (KMOV/CNN) - At the Roberts house, six pumpkins sat on the porch and bicycles lay against the fence, but inside, something terrible was happening. Police say Michael and Georgena Roberts starved their 6- and 7-year-old sons as punishment.
The 6-year-old boy died at the hospital Friday. A neighbor said people knew something was wrong.
“Two of the kids were being home schooled, and they were not allowed out of the house,” Sandy Whittleman said.
The parents’ Facebook page shows a happy couple, married last year, and the cover photo has six children in it. But neighbors say they only ever saw two teenagers. Off-camera, some neighbors said the toys in the yard and the six pumpkins displayed should have been a clue.
“It’s a small town. Everybody knows everybody, and I think probably a lot of people knew there were attempts trying to be made to take are of the problem,” Whittleman said, adding that Family Services was called earlier this year.
"This is the perfect example,” Whittleman said. “The system failed this little boy.”
Georgena Roberts has a prior criminal history. In 2005, she was charged with making meth and heroin and endangering the life of a child, but the child endangerment charges were dropped when she pleaded guilty to the drug charges.
An autopsy conducted on the child revealed the cause of death was “failure to thrive due to extreme malnourishment.” The couple is being held on a $500,000 bond.
Copyright 2017 KMOV via CNN. All rights reserved,
