Dad of Adelaide neglect case kids wants custody

THE former partner of an Adelaide mother of 12 charged with child negelect says he wants to take custody of their 10 children.

He told The Advertiser yesterday that he did not realise the conditions they were living in and only learned anything of their situation when his former partner pleaded with him to drive from interstate to Adelaide and collect the children on Monday as police closed in.

But he said when he arrived in Adelaide to take them back home, the mother relented.

"She begged me to go there," he said.

"I arrived in Adelaide and saw my kids in the front yard and was told I had to leave. I drove back with nothing."

He said the conditions in which they lived were unacceptable.

"I think it's wrong," he said. "I am angry about it.

"It is not anywhere children should be."

The father said all he wanted was for his children to be happy and healthy.

He said his relationship with the woman ended in October 2005 after she left for Adelaide with a former friend.

Although the pair had lived apart for much of their 13-year relationship, they did not battle for custody through the courts.