Cops: 3 kids malnourished, beaten by grandfather, girlfriend in Clayton County

Three “extremely” malnourished, underweight and “severely” beaten children were hospitalized in Clayton County, leading to the arrest of two people, authorities said.

The Division of Family and Children Services conducted a wellness check on the children’s court-appointed guardian, who is grandfather Kenneth Pless, 57, and his 34-year-old girlfriend Nakhea Banes, on Friday, the Clayton County Police Department said in a news release.

They lived in the 10000 block of Barberry Drive in Hampton, the release said.

DFCS said they found a 6-month-old, who weighed only eight pounds, bound to a car seat with the arms of the child’s T-shirt tied behind the child’s back, the release said. The other two children were 2 years old and 6 years old.

X-rays of the three kids showed they each had sustained or currently have broken or fractured bones, the release said. The three children are in the custody of DFCS and were taken to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Hughes Spalding.

Pless and Banes were arrested on three counts of first-degree child cruelty, aggravated battery and contributing to the deprivation of a minor, according to Clayton County jail records.

They are being held in the Clayton County Jail without bond, records show.