[Kevin]

Hey, at least one of the kids was 14 and capable of watching the others. What's the issue here?

In all seriousness, this is unfortunately not all that uncommon with regards to children being abandoned by their parents for extended periods, requiring students to go to neighbors for food and necessities. I doubt it's new either. Common sense isn't common. I'm guessing drug dependency played a role here or this could have possibly been part of a poorly run human trafficking operation.