A Kentucky mother, aged 35, is facing prison time after leaving her three children alone for extended periods, forcing them to remain outdoors in “unlivable” and “inhumane” conditions.

This week, a judge in Jefferson County sentenced Betty Sue Snider to three years in a state correctional facility due to the treatment of her children, who were 10, 11, and 16 years old at the time of her arrest last year.

In July, Snider submitted an Alford plea to four charges of wanton endangerment, four charges of endangering the welfare of a minor, and three charges of minor abandonment, as reported by Louisville CBS affiliate WLKY reported.

The Alford plea, similar in effect to a guilty plea, leads to a conviction but allows the defendant to maintain innocence, acknowledging that the state possesses sufficient evidence to likely achieve a conviction in court.

As per court documents obtained by the Louisville Courier Journal, the probe into Snider started in August 2024. School administrators noticed the 16-year-old arrived appearing neglected, dehydrated, and malnourished. Concern arose when the child’s two younger siblings stopped attending school, prompting them to alert authorities regarding the teen’s state and possible danger to her siblings.

Officers with the Louisville Metro Police Department at about 2 p.m. on Aug. 29, 2024, responded to the home in the 7400 block of Home Park Drive to perform a welfare check on the kids. Upon arriving, first responders said they located the younger siblings “without parental supervision.” They said the kids “appeared dirty, hungry, and had visible injuries.”

In an interview with police, the children said they had been sleeping outside behind Snider’s trailer home and would sleep in various areas, including in a tent, on a swing, or on chairs that were left outside, local ABC affiliate WHAS reported. The officers also noted that the inside of the home was “unlivable,” with bugs and trash visible all over.

Snider reportedly told police that she knew the home was “unlivable,” adding that she had not gone in the residence in several months.

“[Snider] admitted to not being at the location for extended periods of time,” police wrote in their report, per the Courier Journal.

Following Snider’s arrest, a neighbor told local NBC affiliate WAVE that she could often hear the children “outside at 4 in the morning, screaming and fighting with each other.”

The children’s great-grandmother, Mary Buckhammer, told the station she had filed multiple reports with police and Child Protective Services regarding the kids’ living conditions. She also said that, despite living on the same block as Snider, the mother would not allow the children to see her.

“I said there’s kids living outside, using the bathroom outside, don’t take showers, eats once they can get their food,” Buckhammer reportedly said. “Mother’s gone several days at a time at night. They really need help. They need somebody to do something.”