Bucks County couple who starved their 7 children in decrepit home sentenced to up to 16 years in state prison

The horrific neglect that the Robertson children were subjected to was shielded for years behind the walls of their home on Roseann Lane in West Rockhill Township.

But Tuesday, the reality of those crimes was laid bare in the courtroom of a Bucks County judge, as the husband and wife who admitted to starving their children and locking them away from the outside world were both sentenced to eight to 16 years in state prison.

Shane Robertson, 48, and Crystal Robertson, 38, pleaded guilty earlier this year to seven counts of endangering the welfare of children after keeping their six daughters and one son in a garbage-filled, crumbling home. A second set of charges, including assault, for punching and whipping their children, was withdrawn Tuesday as part of the negotiation with prosecutors.

Bucks County Court Judge Charissa Liller offered a sharp rebuke as she handed down her sentence, calling the couple the worst parents she had seen in her career, and their animal feces-filled home the most disgusting she had ever observed.

“You two don’t understand the harm you caused these children. You have deprived them of a normal childhood,” Liller said. “You should be ashamed of yourselves, and I hope you are, and I hope you sincerely feel that shame for the rest of your lives.”

Both Robertsons offered tearful apologies in court, saying they felt ashamed and embarrassed.

“I’m sorry I didn’t provide better care and fell short on all I needed to do,” Crystal Robertson said. “My children had to suffer indescribable trauma at my hands, and I will spend the rest of my life making it up to them.”

Investigators first learned of the abuse in 2023, when a neighbor spotted one of the children stealing from a trailer on his property. The 12-year-old, dirty and hungry, said she was stealing a blanket to keep her pet rats warm. She then led the officers, who were called by the neighbor, to the family’s home, where the walls were pocked with holes and the floorboards were rotting.

The children, at the time between 4 and 16, were malnourished, showing signs of organ failure, and denied even basic education — the oldest ones had math and reading skills of children half their age, and the three youngest didn’t know how old they were, according to prosecutors. All suffered from multiple ailments, including ringworm, COVID-19 and dental abscesses.

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They were placed in the care of relatives, where they remain today.

In contrast, prosecutors said Tuesday, Crystal Robertson doted on her pet lizard, Boudin, who had a TikTok account with more than 1,000 followers. Some of those videos, played in court Tuesday, showed Robertson dressing the lizard up in costumes, taking it to see the Easter bunny, hand-feeding it salmon, and brushing its teeth.

Deputy District Attorney Brittany Kern, who prosecuted the case, noted that the Robertsons treated that reptile significantly better than their children. The couple had placed a lock on the home’s refrigerator, revealing in text messages displayed in court that they were angry their kids were “garbage disposals” and had eaten food they had bought for themselves.

Some of the children later told investigators that they had to steal food when their parents weren’t home in order to eat. The group also rarely bathed, with some of the older girls having hair so matted that child-welfare workers had to shave it off, according to Kern.

Shane Robertson’s attorney, Kenneth Hone, asked Liller for leniency, saying his client had suffered from a difficult childhood of his own and had delegated child care to his wife while he worked two jobs to make ends meet.

Paul DiMaio, who represented Crystal Robertson, made similar requests to the judge. He noted that Robertson had suffered from anxiety, depression and PTSD, all of which had affected her ability to care for her children.

The lawyers said both Robertsons had taken parenting classes since their arrests, and had taken action to make up for their behavior.

But Liller was not swayed, and ordered that the couple have no contact with their children until their 18th birthdays, and only then with explicit approval of a court-appointed therapist.