GALLATIN COUNTY, Ky. (WKRC) – A family is speaking out about the two young girls allegedly abused by their mother’s boyfriend, then sent back home by the state, where the sheriff says they were abused again.

“I’m angry,” said William Stewart, the maternal grandfather of two girls. “I’m angry at her. I’m angry at the guy that did this. I want justice for the kids regardless of what that might be.”

The story of the girls, just six and eight years old, has struck a chord in the Tri-State, prompting hundreds of comments online. We do want to warn readers; some of the details in this story are graphic.

The allegations of abuse are horrific, but equally as disturbing to people making comments is the fact that the state could have intervened sooner and apparently did not. So, you can just imagine how disturbing it is to the little girls’ family.

“Because they’re so innocent,” said Stewart. “They don’t deserve being hit on by nobody.”

The girls’ grandfather is nearly brought to tears when he imagines what his grandbabies, as he calls them, went through. The Gallatin County Sheriff says their mother’s boyfriend, 23-year-old Kyle Reynold, hit them with a closed fist, a belt buckle, and a spatula; put fish hooks under their tongues; and strangled them until they passed out, whispering, “You will never wake up again.”

The sheriff says as the beatings were going on, their mother, 29-year-old Phyllis Culp, was hiding in the bathroom.

The alleged abuse was discovered by school personnel, who called the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services. That state worker inspected the girls, with their bruises, black eyes, bite marks, and choking marks, and sent them back to the motel where they were living. So, the school also called sheriff deputies who arrived a half-hour later, saying the girls had been beaten again.

“He knowingly knew that they were being abused and put them back in danger,” said Stewart. “He’s no different than my daughter. She allowed it to happen—he allowed it to happen. I don’t understand why he doesn’t suffer the same consequences.”

“We would always go outside to play,” said Jennifer Eggleston, girlfriend of the girls’ biological father. “We would ride bikes, get chalk, and take them to the store—anywhere we went, they went with us.”

The girls’ father was too upset to speak with us, but Eggleston said the girls would stay with them every two weeks, when they were living with Culp’s dad in Ohio. Then in July, when Culp met Reynold, they moved to Kentucky, and the girl’s dad and his girlfriend were cut off. Now, she thinks Culp didn’t want them to see the girl’s injuries.

“Yes. I suspect it,” said Eggleston. “It is like my whole body just went cold talking about it.”

Both the girls’ father and grandfather say they would take the girls in a second.

“I would just like to see me or my ex-wife get those babies back where they belong,” said Stewart, fighting back tears.

“At home with you?” Local 12 asked.

“At home where they’re safe,” said Stewart.

The county attorney says the state worker who sent the girls back to the motel has been reassigned. For now, it appears the girls are wards of the state, as none of the grandparents nor the biological father have them.

The mother’s boyfriend, Reynold, is facing attempted murder charges for allegedly strangling the girls and telling them they would not wake up. He also faces several abuse-related charges for allegedly beating them with a closed fist and with other items.

Culp, the girls’ mother, faces a variety of related felonies. They are both in jail on million-dollar bonds and are due back in court next month.

Source: https://local12.com/news/local/family-members-speak-out-after-young-girls-nky-allegedly-abused-by-mothers-boyfriend-northern-kentucky-gallatin-county-kyle-reynold-phyllis-culp-abusive-abuse-attack-hurt-children-kids?fbclid=IwY2xjawUjB-5leHRuA2FlbQIxMABwZG9mAWJyaWQRMUdtTW9qMVNnZFJ0QkRqRGZzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEeBbyT7YpP9QCgpZ7cByUASu9CetnHtU9UJja0GY5uIOUYT0jkk3-Zwvt47kE_aem_ZpOaS6R4yKHZ0H_zqGIxDQ