A Florida pastor stands accused of starving five foster children in her care while her biological daughter feasted on KFC and Popeyes in front of them. Police say she also forced the kids to bathe with a garden hose and use a bucket as a toilet — privileges her own daughter never had to endure.
Gwendolyn Rolle, 59, faces five felony counts of child neglect without great bodily harm in St. Lucie County. Fort Pierce police opened the investigation after receiving an anonymous complaint, ultimately uncovering the alleged abuse.
The arrest warrant reveals that Rolle — who is not a licensed foster parent — routinely favored her biological daughter over the five children in her care, all of whom are siblings ranging in age from 4 to 9.
“[The daughter] gets special treatment such as getting to use a toilet instead of a bucket to go to the bathroom in, she gets to shower, and get better food such as KFC or Popeyes,” the arrest warrant states, citing one of the victims.
“Sometimes [the child] and her siblings do not get to eat dinner due to Gwendolyn not letting them eat and have to go to bed hungry,” the warrant alleges. “[The child] stated that she was forced to shower on her front patio while her siblings would hold a sheet to cover them since only one bathroom has a working shower. [The child] stated her siblings would rotate out of holding the sheet and showering with a garden hose and soap.”
Rolle serves as a pastor at New Hope International Church in Fort Pierce and told police she took the children in after their father abandoned them. Officers visited her home on June 2 following an anonymous tip alleging child abuse.
“Since Gwendolyn is a pastor and held to a higher standard within the community, [the tipster] has always been afraid to speak out on anything,” the warrant states, noting the tipster told police that Rolle “has foster kids in her custody and treats them very poorly.”
Rolle allegedly acknowledged having only one working restroom due to the other being out of order for repairs, but insisted she bathed the foster children regularly. That claim conflicted sharply with what investigators heard from both the children and school staff, who said the kids were routinely bullied at school because they smelled and lacked clean clothes.
One child told police that classmates mocked her over the odor, and that she was sometimes given perfume or a spray at school to mask the smell so other students would not bully her.
The warrant further alleges that Rolle kept her bedroom door — the only way to access the working bathroom — locked at all times, even when she was home. The children had to seek her permission to use it, and she primarily only unlocked it for her biological daughter.
The children also accused Rolle of physical abuse, including slaps to the face and other strikes. She allegedly called them “b—ards” and, on the occasions she did feed them, the meals consisted of school leftovers or ramen noodle packets.
A community member told police she had allowed the children to stay at her home on multiple occasions. “Her living room smelled horrible after the children slept there, due to the odor emanating from their bodies,” the warrant states. She told investigators she had tried giving the children food, clothes, and toys, but that Rolle consistently confiscated the items — either throwing them away or handing them over to her biological daughter.
Rolle has since bonded out of jail following her arrest and has been assigned a public defender.
Leave a Reply